The birth of an eBook series
In 2012, a doctor on vacation in Corsica began writing apparently random phrases to his wife back home, connected only by a small logical thread. An ebook series was about to be born.
The author
His name was Ricardo Tronconi. A Piedmontese born in Caracas, Venezuela, who has lived a quiet life in Bedizzole, in the province of Brescia, for decades. He has never had any literary aspirations, but for years in his spare time he has studied and researched a variety of topics related to human nature, with particular attention to his field (medicine) and his spirit (religion). Who knows what comes to his mind as he sails the Mediterranean Sea. What is certain is that those cryptic messages, sent almost as a joke, become the basis for what will become his eBook series, La Novella Orchidea.
The first eBook
When he returns home, he relies on his daughters and future sons-in-law to search for a solution that will allow him to publish that first story on the Internet, still unpublished, that sprang from his pen on a chart table. After two years of work, more novels, and extensive research, the first collection lands in October 2014 via StreetLib (then Simplicissimus Book Farm). The soul quantum theory and other novels was finally available only in digital format in the main stores then affiliated with the online distributor.
But the self-publishing market, while tepidly welcomed in Italy, is already abundantly occupied by other self-published aspiring writers, who have taken courage after the success of E. L. James with Fifty Shades of Grey. For this reason, Ricardo Tronconi entrusts three translators with the task of bringing his writings abroad. New eBooks are thus distributed in English, French, and Spanish. The foreign market seems immediately more receptive. La Novella Orchidea begins to have a more international coverage.
The first comic eBook
It is in February 2016, with the publication of the first comic book, Fabia Claudia and Claudia Fabia, drawn by Calogero Burgio, that the dream begins to come true. The work, a few dozen pages long and in black and white, finds a free and still fresh market and immediately establishes itself among the top ranking on the Kobo portal.
The eBook series today
To date, La Novella Orchidea counts more than 100 publications, including novels, collections of short stories, illustrated novels, comics, and audiobooks, all rigorously distributed in digital format. The author himself explains the reason for this choice:
Distributing books in digital format gives me the opportunity to have worldwide coverage, while keeping the price affordable for those who buy it. I can revise my work at any time without wasting paper. In addition, the support is also convenient. The eBook reader is a natural space saver. Digital format is not a second choice for me. I strongly believe in it. The entire team of La Novella Orchidea tries to offer the best possible quality to the final reader. Both in the “packaging” of the eBook itself and in its promotion.
Keeping up with a constantly evolving market is not easy, but Ricardo Tronconi remains faithful to his style. His writings, varying in length from a few dozen pages, are divided into chapters and do not stop at anything, not even the harshest censorship.
We have seen the world of publishing become impoverished in terms of content and shy away from “strong” topics, at least when it comes to self-publishing. There is a very cold climate towards eroticism and everything related to various forms of violence. As if they were taboo topics that, once touched upon, would urge readers to do harm, simply because they have read about it. I always try to approach certain themes with irony, but much of what I write is a denunciation of violent and sexist attitudes in society, certainly not an incitement to replicate them (e.g. The Sparrow Hawk, The weight of air, Carmen Elena Norma Tiffàri). It is the prerogative of portals to block the distribution of what they do not deem suitable for their guidelines. But this does not prevent me from continuing to write.
The mission
Furthermore, from the very beginning, La Novella Orchidea was born with a specific mission: the widest possible distribution of unconventional topics. Ricardo Tronconi’s writings are not canonical, even in structure. They cannot be defined as novels due to their brevity (a few tens of pages), but nor are they short stories, as they are divided into chapters.
They are like novels, seeking to bring new contributions to the theme that is closest to my heart: the feminine. Hence, simply, the name chosen for the entire eBook series, La Novella Orchidea.
Now in our seventh year of publication, the staff of La Novella Orchidea consists of about ten people, including translators, illustrators, proofreaders, and promoters. All young people. The author strongly favors those who are starting out and struggling to find commissions in a market that does not recognize the artist as a worker and need to gain experience.
I am aware that my novels are aimed at a niche audience. All the more reason to see how a translator or a comic artist can rework my ideas is stimulating. I believe it offers an additional vision of the work to the reader. I am not interested in autobiographical notes. I write what I write without explanations. Let the reader enjoy imagining who is telling the story as they please. What matters is that the time spent in my company is a pleasant moment of reflection on human and divine things.
