Authors In The Media With Beth Castrodale 

After reading an early copy of The Inhabitants by Beth Castrodale and doing a Q&A with her, I am delighted to be doing this Authors In The Media Q&A going more in depth of her time as a newspaper reporter and senior editor at St. Martins! 

Q: In our Q&A we briefly discussed your time as a newspaper reporter and how it helped with your research & writing skills. Could you give a list of people you did interviews with and talk about what those experiences were like?

A: At the Cape Cod Times, I worked as a business reporter. This meant that I interviewed a range of sources who were part of the business community: restaurant owners and other members of the hospitality industry, people involved in the construction trade, and folks who ran a variety of small businesses. I also interviewed people who could offer insights into local trends or controversies.

Some people were happy to talk with me; others were more reserved, or they didn’t wish to speak to me at all. But for the most part, I had a rewarding experience interviewing sources. It wasn’t uncommon for them to share great insights or new perspectives on a topic. Sometimes, they would offer the perfect quote—sharp and to-the-point.

At times, my reporting involved more than just interviewing. For example, when a local manufacturer declared bankruptcy, I ended up traveling to Albany, New York, where the bankruptcy documents were filed, so that I could research the ins and outs of what was up with the company, which had always been tight-lipped with the press. Wading through all of that paperwork and trying to make sense of it was a learning experience, and it gave me a new respect for the hard work that goes into investigative reporting. I really respect the journalists who engage in that work and shed light on issues that, otherwise, wouldn’t be brought to the public’s attention.

Q: In our Q&A you told me that you learned a lot of important lessons during your time as a reporter. What important lessons did you learn that would help anyone wanting to become a journalist? 

A: One lesson I learned was how to improve my interviewing skills. To give you one example, I’ve never dealt well with awkward silences. If they go on too long, I feel an urge to fill them with nervous chatter. But as a reporter, I learned that I needed to become comfortable with the silences that might follow questions I asked sources, especially when the questions were difficult or uncomfortable. I learned that I needed to give people time to process questions and formulate their answers, even if that ended up being “No comment.”

Perhaps the most important lesson I learned was how to write under deadline—an especially challenging concept for me given that I tend to be a relatively slow writer, and a perfectionist. In the case of time-sensitive stories, I might have had to do all the reporting and writing in a single day, and send the story to the copyediting team by the end of my work day—often, by 6 p.m. or so. Over time, I learned that while on deadline, I couldn’t fuss over every sentence or rethink my overall approach halfway through a story. I needed to write as quickly (and as clearly and succinctly) as possible and get the story into the production pipeline. 

Although the process of writing fiction is quite different from that for writing news stories and features, the experience of working under deadline has helped me with my fiction. Especially when working on first drafts, I try not to let the perfectionist in me send me down revision rabbit holes while I’m trying to maintain forward momentum with a story. Instead, I aim to just get the first pass down on paper (or, rather, typed into a computer file). Sometimes, I need to remind myself that there will be plenty of time for revision later.

Q: Did you go to college to pursue your journalism career, or did you apply for the job after graduating high school? Journalists I’ve interviewed have told me different things, so I want to know what your journey was. 

A: I got a journalism degree, and one of the most valuable parts of my studies was working on my university’s student newspaper, first as a reporter and later as an editor. You can’t really learn the ins and outs of journalism without taking a hands-on approach, and I’m grateful that my university’s J-school allowed me to do that.

Also helpful were the summer internships I had: one in copyediting and two in reporting. By the time I finished my university studies, I felt well prepared to start working in the field.

Q: We discussed your time being an editor at Bedford/St. Martin’s & how you edited textbooks not novels. I still think it’s impressive! Did you also go to college to be an editor or apply for an internship? What was it like collaborating with others to edit? What lessons did you learn while you were an editor there? 

A: My only major was journalism, but in that program, I took classes in editing, and I also got experience in editing through the campus newspaper and through a summer internship at a news service.

After working at the Cape Cod times, I eventually transitioned to a career in book publishing, beginning as an intern at Bedford/St. Martin’s, and eventually working my way up to the level of senior editor.

The kind of editing I did at Bedford/St. Martin’s was quite different from news editing, mainly because it was a longer game. It takes years to get a first-edition book from the concept stage to completion, and though later editions take less time, it’s still a long process. Accordingly, I had a longer and more involved relationship with authors, meaning there were a lot of back-and-forths through emails and phone calls, and every now and then through meetings. Although this part of the job wasn’t editing per se, it was crucial to turning ideas for first or later editions of books into a reality.

Once I had a manuscript in hand that involved more back-and-forths with the author (or authors) about a variety of issues: structure, organization, information design, and so on. Then, of course, came the actual editing, which could be quite heavy (even structural in nature) or light, depending on the needs of the manuscript.

To your point about collaboration, that was absolutely crucial at every stage of the book-development process. In addition to collaborating with authors, I had the privilege of working with great interior and cover designers, production editors, copyeditors, and marketing folks. I also received great mentorship and advice from those with more experience.

I could go on and on about all the lessons I learned on the job. Probably the biggest one is that it gave me an enduring appreciation of all the levels of work—and collaboration—that go into producing and marketing a book. Also, the job taught me skills I’d never imagined I’d learn as a book editor. For example, I was tasked with helping to write marketing materials for my books and with presenting them to the national sales force. So I got valuable experience with marketing and public speaking, skills that have helped me promote my own books.