One month of Black Salt Queen
Happy one-month birthday to Black Salt Queen! My debut is officially out in the world. It's been a wild ride, so here's what you might have missed.
Dear friend,
My debut novel has been out in the world for an entire month—and what a month it’s been! The past four weeks have been an absolute whirlwind. Blame it on the jet lag or the intense heat, but my mind is still so scattered and I don’t know where to begin.
How about with a few highlights?
I flew back to the U.S. for the first time in over a year. While I was in New York, I attended Bindery’s Spring 2025 launch (including a fun, super glam event at P&T Knitwear plus a signing at Barnes & Noble 5th Avenue).
I met my tastemaster/publisher behind Bindery’s imprint, Violetear Books (not that there was any doubt, but Kevin is just as funny, genuine, and passionate in real life as he is online!).
Being in New York also gave me the opportunity to meet fellow author friends IRL, including London Sperry (author of the humorous, heartbreaking rom-com Passion Project) and Maddie Martinez (author of the sapphic, atmospheric fantasy The Maiden and Her Monster, coming out this September).
📰 In other news:
Black Salt Queen was Fox & Wit’s pick for June! It was my absolute dream to be selected for a book subscription box. Check out the special edition cover over at Violetear Books’ Bindery page (spoiler alert: it’s GORGEOUS).
Lightspeed Magazine featured an amazing review of Black Salt Queen in their June 2025 issue. Here’s a brief snippet:
If you like intricate, detailed stories of magical, pre-colonial worlds, this one’s for you. Black Salt Queen begins by building an extremely specific world built on a pre-colonial Filipino foundation. There’s deep lore here, with a slow, deliberate story and pacing that reminded me of Game of Thrones.
Following the launch, I chatted all things Black Salt Queen with one of my favorite bookstagrammers, Dahlia (@ofpagesandprint). Watch the full interview on Instagram:
💌 What I’m loving lately:
Slow, introspective films. Over the past month, I’ve spent an inordinate amount of time in transit. For whatever reason, I like my plane movies slower-paced and a bit strange (A24, but not only). My favorites from this past trip were Flow and Vermigilio—very different films that nonetheless relied on stunning visuals, quiet character moments, and immense subtlety.
Mean Girls by KATSEYE. This song is much softer than their recent releases. It has a nostalgic, 2010s quality to it plus a message I can’t help but get behind. Perhaps it hits so hard because I write complex, flawed (and, more often than not, awful) female characters who are dying to be loved. In today’s climate, it’s rare to hear such heartfelt compassion for all women. Also: the line God bless the T girls / And all the in-between girls is beautiful and so, so important.
🔗 Links:
Add BLACK SALT QUEEN to your TBR on Storygraph and Goodreads.
Buy BLACK SALT QUEEN via Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, and wherever books are sold!
All my love,
S.B.
samanthabansil.com | @sam_bansil