Mercedes Ron: The Argentine Author Who Conquered the World with a Forbidden Love Story Shared on Wattpad

At 33, Argentine author Mercedes Ron has captivated readers worldwide with her romance novels, selling six million copies and seeing 11 film adaptations. She began writing at 14, inspired by "Twilight," and believes reading and writing are inseparable.

Ron's journey to literary fame began with a story she wrote at 19. After facing rejections from traditional publishers, she published it chapter by chapter on Wattpad, a collaborative online writing platform. There, her story of forbidden love between stepsiblings Noah and Nick Leister, set in a Los Angeles mansion, found its audience. What was intended as a single book, driven by reader demand, evolved into the "Culpables" trilogy: "Culpa mía," "Culpa tuya," and "Culpa nuestra," published between 2017 and 2018.

The unexpected boom in her career coincided with the pandemic, a period when people turned to "fast entertainment" for escapism. Platforms like TikTok became hubs for book discussions, transforming what seemed like a fleeting quarantine trend into a significant reading revolution, with the hashtag #BookTok gaining traction. Ron's visit to Buenos Aires for the release of the fourth and final book in the saga, "Culpables," drew massive crowds, with fans eager for dedications on their books. She credits the fandom's insistence for the book's creation, joking that it wasn't in her plans nearly a decade later.