Filipina romance novelist is a bestseller in US

Marian Tee: “Writing is a business too.” CONTRIBUTED

BANGKOK — Marian Tee, a graduate of business administration of Siena College in Quezon City, may not be as popular as E.L. James, but her novels are more than comparable to the steamy romance novels written by James, Nicholas Sparks and even Sidney Sheldon.

Tee says she enjoys James who was one of the reasons she started writing steamy novels. Yet, Harlequin authors like Lynne Graham and Sharon Kendrick as well as Judith McNaught and Susan Elizabeth Phillips influenced her the most. She categorizes her works as escapist fiction and does her very best to make readers cry before getting to the happy-ever-after ending.

A Filipino with a Chinese name

Before becoming a full-time author and publisher, Tee worked as an online content provider in the Philippines. But she started writing stories while in elementary school, prodded by friends who knew that she was a good storyteller even though she was shy and introverted. Tee is Filipino-Chinese.

Nobody cares about her name except her Filipino readers who ask about her nationality. Some ask if she has Greek blood since she writes about Greek billionaires and seems to have a deep understanding of Greek culture.

Boxed Set, which landed on USA Today’s bestseller list. CONTRIBUTED

Her first published book, A Fling to Remember was published in the Philippines by PSICOM in 2007 but is out of print now. Some of her earlier books are still available as e-books from Summit Books’ Buqo platform (an app available for both Android and iOS devices).

Genres and publishing in the US

In publishing, one does not need to live in the US to get to the international market. Tee started with chick literature and young adult fiction. She once focused on young adult horror because U.S. literary agents preferred it to romance.

“I’m able to access readers outside the country through digital self-publishing (Amazon’s KDP, Apple’s iBooks, Barnes & Noble’s Nook Press, Kobo, Google Play, and All Romance). Marketing represents a big chunk of work, but thanks to the wonders of the Internet and technology, practically all of the marketing opportunities available to authors in the US are available to me as well,” Tee explains.

Tee clarifies that she was able to hit the USA Today list because she is a part of multi-author anthologies. A complete list of these e-book boxed sets can be found on USA Today’s official website. The first one was Billionaire Bad Boys of Romance, which hit both lists in November 2013. Marian’s first adult Greek billionaire romance, The Art of Catching a Greek Billionaire, was in this boxed set. It peaked at #50 on USA Today’s bestselling list, and on NYT the boxed set made it to #22 on the bestselling list for combined print and e-book sales. Most of the boxed sets that made it to USA Today also made it to New York Times’ bestselling lists.

Most of her recent novels are on the Amazon top list. Tee is working on the sequels to her novels titled the Art of Wedding a Greek Billionaire, which is due for publication soon.

“To be honest, I haven’t experienced any significant perks, but that’s probably because I’m not traditionally published and because I don’t participate in any publishing-related events,” Tee says.

Heroines and heroes

“Absolutely. I see myself in my heroines in the sense that they won’t ever do anything I don’t personally feel good about. Let’s just say that my heroines and I will always share the same moral compass. As for creating characters, I’ve no set process for it. Most of the time, they just…happen,” Tee explains.

Her latest novel is Prince of Darkness, a two-book Greek-billionaire-slash-Mafia-romance series set in college, which promises tears and laughter in the first book before it goes dark in the second.

Marian Tee is also an Amazon bestseller. CONTRIBUTED

Although her books are famous in the United States, she still hopes to see her books in local bookstores in the Philippines. Although she is shy she admits that she might cause “headaches” among local publishers when it comes to marketing.

Traditional publishing vs. self-publishing

Tee used to work with traditional publishers where manuscripts were approved and published hardbound or soft bound. In 2013 she started to publish her own books and found it more fulfilling. It was also a good business venture, especially if the books are well reviewed.

Online publishing is easier since an author can market his/her work to various online stores. If lucky, well-known publishers such as Harper, Harlequin and may come across their work and offer publication.

“While I can’t speak for traditional publishing, I can say that self-publishing is viable for anyone who genuinely enjoys writing and is — at the same time – willing to treat it as a business,” says Tee.