After more than a decade in the book business, Beacon Press senior publicist Bev Rivero is adamant that working with social justice–focused independent publishers is a form of activism. “I bring a personal enthusiasm to promoting books about reforming immigration law or bringing awareness to queer communities and movements,” explained Rivero, an immigrant of color who identifies as queer. “I want more people to read these works and, by extension, to get involved, or to at least gain more awareness of the lives of those around them.”

Rivero got her start in publishing as a student at Johns Hopkins University, through an internship at Johns Hopkins University Press. After graduating, she worked in various capacities at a few publishing houses until, in 2013, she was hired as a publicist at the New Press—and found her calling. Rivero said it was Anne Sullivan, the New Press publicity director at the time, who helped her “envision what it might look like to specifically choose to work on books aligning with my values.”

It’s been a meaningful career choice, she said. Working with issue-oriented authors like those published by New Press and Beacon means maintaining deeper working relationships, including pitching and placing opinion pieces to address current events that often come from the backlist. For example, at New Press, Rivero promoted Paul Butler’s 2017 book Chokehold: Policing Black Men, which surged into national prominence following the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police in 2020. “It’s a very different experience from working on a big commercial list published by a conglomerate,” she noted, “and having to move on every season.”

Rivero also emphasized the importance of keeping up with current events in creating successful publicity plans for her authors. “I have to bring an informed lens,” she said, because she isn’t simply promoting a book but “diving deep beyond books coverage” to bring the author’s message into the broader public domain.

After nearly seven years at the New Press, five of them as publicity and social media manager, Rivero worked for two years at the National Book Foundation before being hired by Beacon in 2021. One of her first projects there was promoting White Space, Black Hood: Opportunity Hoarding and Segregation in the Age of Inequality by Sheryll Cashin in 2021, which included setting up a virtual event at Politics & Prose Bookstore in Washington, D.C., that featured Butler and Cashin together.

It’s particularly gratifying to work on books by writers of color, Rivero said, and especially by writers of color who are focused on making social change. Beacon authors, many of them academics or journalists, have come to trust Rivero to promote their books effectively. “I know who their readers are,” Rivero said, adding that her authors know she is going to approach their books not only as a media-savvy publicist but as someone who is also well-read in their areas of expertise and understands the issues at hand.

She pointed to Tanya Kateri Hernández, the author of Racial Innocence: Unmasking Latino Anti-Black Bias and the Struggle for Equality (2022), as an example. “As a Peruvian Latina, I’m familiar with what she describes and the complexities of calling out your own peers for discrimination,” said Rivero, whose family emigrated to the U.S. when she was a toddler. “And as a book publicist, I’m able to recognize the impact of reaching readers at Al Día, as well as connecting with influencers like Lupita Reads in addition to garnering coverage in national media.”

This season, Rivero points to two Beacon books that have resonated strongly with her. Serene Khader’s Faux Feminism: Why We Fall for White Feminism and How We Can Stop, which was published on October 29, “feels very of the moment,” Rivero said. “It’s about the language of feminism and how the discourse does not serve everybody. It’s not necessarily a new argument, but she takes it in new directions.” She noted that Khader advocates for a more global feminism that emphasizes inclusiveness and community organizing.

Cheryl L. Neely’s No Human Involved: The Serial Murder of Black Women and Girls and the Deadly Cost of Police Indifference is another particularly trenchant book for the moment, Rivero said. Due out in January 2025, it focuses on “the systemic ignoring of murders of Black women.” She added that the book’s title comes from a particularly dehumanizing phrase used in police reports. In a starred review, PW called it “a vital, infuriating addition to the literature on racial prejudice in U.S. law enforcement.” Rivero said her promotion efforts for Neely’s book will benefit from her previous work with Butler and Monique Couvson, author of the 2016 New Press release Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools.

“I’m looking forward to utilizing my experience working with media and event contacts for Butler and Couvson and bringing to light the cases across the nation that Neely examines in her new book,” Rivero said. “It’s been great to be part of getting these books out. We need more publishers who are willing to sign books that go beyond the public conversation and have direct relevance to those caught up in unjust systems.”