Welcome to our rebooted “Beacon Behind the Books” series! In these times when readers are responding to our books “more than ever,” when our authors—including Aubrey Gordon, Tanya Katerí Hernández, Robin D. G. Kelley, Angela Saini, Nora Neus, and Gayl Jones—are appearing in the media, their ideas going viral on social media, their voices being heard on so many platforms, we thought it would be good to take a break to focus on some of the staff who work hard to find, shape, edit, produce, and promote those works. Our blog series introduces to you a staff member and gives you a behind-the-scenes look, department by department, at what goes on at our office. And not only our staff, but our interns, too.

This month, we introduce you to Salvatore Ambrosino, our digital and social media intern! 

What drew you to publishing, Salvatore?

Publishing has been my opportunity to participate in a cause which best puts to use the skills I acquired throughout college.

What’s a typical day in the life of a digital and social media intern like?

Platforming these books and making their messages accessible through social media has been my opportunity to help generate meaningful change. I’d imagine anywhere else a day in an office building wouldn’t feel so special—but at Beacon Press, surrounded by the manuscripts of some of the most forceful writers in US history, it’s hard not to feel astonished. I still pinch myself.

What is one book on our list that has influenced your thinking on a particular issue?

My brother and I went through high school reading James Baldwin’s Notes of a Native Son, relating it to our own lives. It was through Baldwin that for the first time I felt reached, and so I am grateful that now I may be able to reach others with the words of authors who write courageously.