She studied Communications in Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, where she met her husband, Tappan King.

After a stint as a travel coordinator in New York after college, she worked at the Science Fiction Shop bookstore for two years in the late 1970s.

After her 1989 move west, Meacham continued working for Tor long distance as an executive editor.

Among the major books she has edited she cites Greg Bear's Blood Music, Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game, Pat Murphy's The Falling Woman and Tim Powers's The Anubis Gates.

[3] In February 2017 Beth was the Editor Guest of Honor and Keynote Speaker at the 35th annual Life, the Universe, & Everything professional science fiction and fantasy arts symposium.