Colleen Hoover: Following Her Own Rules to Success

Today, Colleen Hoover is a bonafide success. She is so famous these days that she has been added in Time Magazine’s list of the “100 most influential people of 2023. This is how popular she is.

But many in the writing circles, most especially in the US, like to point out that she is far from your average successful author. For one, she has written in many genres like romance and thrillers, which is not the conventional norm in the writing industry.

Many of her critics also like to point out that some of the subjects of her novels allegedly walk the line between what is acceptable and what is taboo, like alleged issues of glorifying abuse of women.

But whatever what you might think of Colleen Hoover, she is a success with millions of online followers and many devoted fans and book buyers. She is widely celebrated today as the most famous author, at least in the US, having sold more print books than the bible.

If you are an aspiring author, or even a professional one, it is worth studying her and most especially what makes her popular among her online fans and her book buyers. Maybe you might learn a thing or two from her.

The Details:

1. Who is Colleen Hoover?

As of 2023, she is already 43 years of age. She is an American, married and have kids. She currently lives in Texas together with her family, mother and other relatives. Before she became a successful author, she used to be a social worker for decades.

Her trademark novel is “It Ends With Us” which is slated to have a movie version in 2024 starring Blake Lively. It happens to be one of her most controversial novels as well with critics slamming it for allegedly glorifying the abuse of women.

She is so popular that she has been added by Time Magazine to its list of the ”100 Most Influential People of 2023”, this is a testament to her success both as a famous author as well as a social media personality.

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2. She Has Written in Many Genres

She has written books in romance, drama, thriller and other genres, defying the conventional wisdom in book writing circles that you need to stick with only one genre to develop a writing brand with your readers.

This has been the long held belief in author circles for decades, but it seems she doesn’t care at all for this. And it seems, she was right not to care at all. This is because it seems her loyal fans are not very particular in the genres she writes for, as long as its written by her.

So, if you are an eclectic author just like hers who can’t seem to stick on one particular genre only, don’t be quick to blame your eclectic and varying choice in genres, you might just need to develop your fan following a bit more.

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3. Her Old Books Started Selling Well

She only sold a small quantity of her books which are not in the millions of dollars for years, but she nevertheless persisted after she realized that there was money to be made from being an author, even if only small initially.

This highlights the importance of persisting on and creating a huge catalog of books. You should persist because for the most part, most authors only reach a certain level of success after years of writing.

It is also important for authors to build their catalogs in case they attain a certain a measure of success. This is because once an author builds up a loyal fanbase, they would naturally want to also buy your old books. You are missing out on sales if you don’t have a book catalog.

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4. Her Books are Controversial

One thing that keeps her flame of fame burning bright are the seemingly controversial subjects that she writes about. Her novels are known for their sexual content, highly charged conflicts and plot twists which all seems common fare in today’s many modern novels.

One of her novels specifically, which is titled “It Ends With Us” which is also being turned into a movie starring Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni has sparked controversy because of its supposed glamorization of abuse on women.

Some of her other books have also caught controversy or negative commentary because of its supposed outlandish depiction of relationships and sex. More specifically, some of her critics describe her books as “dumpterfires”.

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5. No Formal Education in Writing

She is by formal education, a social worker. She had already decades of experience with her job before she tried writing as a formal career path. It was only when her first novel started selling that she considered it.

When her second novel also sold, that was when she finally got the courage to leave her job as a social worker to become a writer on a full-time basis. In fact, she had no allusions of success when she first started writing, for her it was more like a hobby or something to pass the time.

In many of the authors featured in this website, almost all of them have no formal education or training in writing, except maybe for the few English lessons they have when they were still young children. So, don’t let a lack of formal writing education stop you from pursuing your writing ambitions, if you have one.

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6. Has Devoted Fans

Perhaps the biggest key to her author success is her legions of devoted fans which actively promotes her, creating an informal marketing juggernaut to help her sell more of her novels and keep her popular.

And she has rewarded her many loyal fans by keeping herself active as well in social media and constantly engaging with her loyal fans. To date, she has more than 3.9 million followers in social media. In fact, TikTok is her biggest platform when it comes to marketing her novels.

She should be a great example for you of how important social media is these days when it comes to marketing your products, even your novels. Although your novels may become popular organically, in the end, you still need social media to take you to the next level.

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7. Rumored Net Worth is $10 Million

While it is hard to get an exact figure as to how much she is worth today, most estimates found online stated that she is worth about $10 million. This might not seem a lot by today’s standards where there are authors like J.K. Rowling who is a confirmed billionaire.

However, the big picture in this seemingly small amount of money, is the fact the she just shot to fame a couple of years ago. Her success wasn’t meteoric. It was rather a “long burn” path to success.

Her sudden wealth was actually made from years of selling a few of her novels which gradually snowballed until she became a millionaire several times over. So, if you’re an author who is not making much sales with your books, you may be just like her who is a “long burn”.

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Final Words

Colleen Hoover is allegedly the most famous author, at least in America, according to writing industry experts. This is because she has sold, at least in 2023, more printed books than any other authors, including the bible.

She has also been a case study for many writing experts in how the rules of writing are changing, where old iron-clad rules are being broken. For one, she writes in different genres which is a no-no in the writing industry.

She is also not afraid to write about seemingly controversial subjects. Another deviation from long established writing rules especially if you want to sell a lot of copies of your books without getting banned.

She is definitely someone who needs to be studied, especially her career. She herself admits that often, she can’t fathom why she is a success. She also doesn’t discount that her success might be fleeting and have accepted the fact that it can happen anytime.

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