Interview: Benjamin Aeveryn, Author of Salt in the Wound

Today I have an interview with Benjamin Aeveryn, author of Salt in the Wound. This post is part of the Escapist Book Co’s blog tour for Salt in the Wound. Thank you for allowing me to participate, and a big thank you to Benjamin Aeveryn for answering my questions!

Interview

What is the best way you’ve found to market your books?

I’m still pretty new to publishing, so I don’t have a whole lot of experience to draw from. That said,
the three big things for me have been cover, pitch, and newsletter. Put in the time and money to
get an eye-catching cover suitable for your genre. File down your back cover copy to a 1-2
sentence pitch that catches people’s attention—I actually have a small selection and I alternate
between them to get a feel for what works best. Set up a newsletter so you have somewhere to
direct your readers once they’ve finished your book.

Are there any authors that you just didn’t like their work at first, but eventually came to like?

Adrian Tchaikovsky. I read Cage of Souls and bounced off it. Wasn’t planning to read him again
but then I heard one of his short stories on LeVar Burton Reads and loved it. Gave his novels
another chance with Dogs of War, enjoyed it a fair amount. Then I tried Empire in Black and Gold
and thought it was fantastic.

What was your favorite book as a child? Did it influence you to become a writer?

I’m afraid I have to be terribly cliché and say The Lord of the Rings. I first read it when I was 8
years old and became obsessed. I already had some idea that I wanted to be a writer, but The
Lord of the Rings really pushed me towards fantasy. Weirdly, that was the only epic fantasy I
would read for years and years. I had no idea there was other stuff out there that would suit my
tastes. For a long time I’d read everything from detective noir, post-apocalyptic, thrillers, horror,
litfic, sci-fi, before finally rediscovering fantasy in my late twenties.

What is your favorite thing to listen to while you write?

I usually write in silence, but if I have music it will be classical/neoclassical. Max Richter is my
favourite, but I’ll also listen to Jon Hopkins and other similar composers.
The exception is that sometimes early with a new project, I’ll listen to something thematically
appropriate to get into the mood. A few years ago I wrote a sci-fantasy novel and I listened to a
lot of dreamy electro and drum & bass for that.

Do you think it helps authors to have a big ego or hurts them?

I think a level of confidence is essential. Especially if you submit stories as well as self-publishing.
I’ve been writing short fiction for over a decade and the constant churn of rejection is impossible
to weather without an indomitable belief in your work. Too much ego, though, can be disastrous.
You don’t want to be so blinded by vanity that you’re unable to action useful critique.

A frequent mistake I see with new writers is that they have a lot of confidence before they’ve put
in the work. They assume writing is easy, or that their ideas are so incredible, and because they
haven’t studied, they don’t realise how little they know.

Do you ever have reader’s block or reading slumps? How do you get yourself out of them?

Less so than I used to. Usually if I’m dragging my heels it’s because I’m not enjoying the book I’m
reading, or I’ve had a string of books that didn’t work for me. The way I get out of it is a mixture of
trying to find a book that I click with—listening to my mood—and just forcing myself to read. I see
reading widely and often as part of the job of being an author, so whether I’m in the mood or not, I
always make time for it.

Our world is lost to time. Only our myths remain.

Once rain was a symbol of hope and harvest. Now it brings only death.

Humanity survives in sheltered cities and canvas-covered towns. Travel between these patches of safety is rare and dangerous.

It’s what Galahad lives for.

But while seeking a lost cache of salt—a fortune he plans to use to build a shelter over his hometown—Galahad is betrayed by the friends he holds dearest.

They leave him for dead. Unfortunately for them, he lives.

Torn between seeking justice or revenge, Galahad knows one thing for certain: that treasure is his, and he’ll do anything to reclaim it.

Content/Trigger Warnings: Gratuitous violence, gore, animal violence (monster hunting only), self-harm, drug/alcohol abuse (recreational, graphic depiction of addiction), vomiting, sexism, POV from character living with OCD/anxiety w/ in-depth description of their experience, loss of limb/mobility, mild horror (monsters), consensual sex, persistent heavy swearing, child carried off by monsters, suicidal ideation

About Benjamin Aeveryn

Benjamin Aeveryn is an author of SFF from Cambridge, UK, where he lives with his beautiful fiance and a grumpy old cat. Salt in the Wound is his debut novel. People say his work is grimdark fantasy, but for a vision of England where it’s always raining, infrastructure is crumbling, and nobody trusts their neighbours, he only has to look out of his window.

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