Colleen Hoover will (metaphorically) rip out your heart and stomp on it a thousand times. She’ll then hand it back to you and request a five-star rating. And you’ll give it to her. After all, it is her expertly crafted words that shattered your heart in the first place. She’s earned it.
A best-selling author with a full-length movie in the works and over two dozen books to her name, Hoover’s path to success was completely unexpected. While she’s always wanted to be a writer, making the dream come true never seemed feasible. “I didn’t think it was a realistic career once I had children to feed, so I switched gears and got a degree in social work,” she tells Glamour. “It wasn’t until I was 31 when I started writing for fun that it actually turned into something.”
In lieu of the traditional path, which involves querying agents and submitting the book to standard publishers, Hoover self-published her first novel, Slammed, in 2012. To her surprise, Slammed and its sequel, Point of Retreat, would both make the New York Times best-seller list in August of that year thanks to a five-star review from a popular book blogger.
“It was surreal and still is surreal,” she says. “The first time I was told I made The New York Times in 2012, I didn’t tell anyone for an entire day because I didn’t think it was true. And that’s pretty much how everything has gone since then. It takes time for the good things to sink in. My husband and I still sometimes look at each other and say, ‘How did this happen? Why did this happen?’”
Ten years later Hoover’s still going strong. She’s since landed an agent and seen nine more of her novels hit the best-seller list. She quit her job in social work and became a full-time author—fulfilling a lifelong dream she never thought possible. All while raising three kids. Her most recent novel, released earlier this year, Reminders of Him, is already making waves on BookTok.
With over 600,000 followers on TikTok and counting, her one-minute videos often compile little snippets of her life, advice on writing, and major book updates. The platform is the latest opportunity to connect with new readers and market yourself to a new generation, and Hoover’s doing it with ease, though she says her success is largely thanks to her loyal fans.
While that may be true, one thing is certain: She’ll continue to toy with our emotions in each of her subsequent books, forcing us to go through boxes upon boxes of tissues. On this, she had just one thing to say: “Honestly, I think it’s because I am unemotional, so I tend to push the emotions as I write so that I’ll feel something.”
For Glamour’s latest installment of Doing the Work, we had Colleen Hoover fill us in on how she unwinds after a stressful day, the secret to TikTok success, her love of Red Lobster, and of course, her favorite couple she’s ever written (because we’re all dying to know!).
I try to get eight hours of sleep a night, but the hours that could fall between are very scattered. I live one mile from my office, so I usually hop out of bed, get dressed, and head there. Then I have a cold Diet Pepsi on ice before I can even think about what I’ll tackle that day. I’m very scattered in the mornings and rarely get going with writing or tackling other projects until noon.
Rejection is a strong word. I look at it more as my goals aren’t aligned with other people’s if either of us feels a project won’t work out. I don’t let it bother me. I just pivot and keep going.
I consume other forms of art, like listening to music or podcasts, watching movies, reading books. When I step away from writing, I usually find inspiration through other people’s art, and that always motivates me to sit down at my keyboard again.
Some authors can handle the negativity and some can’t even handle a positive review with a mild critique, so only read what you can emotionally handle. If reading reviews brings any sort of stress to you, don’t read them. If they’re invigorating, then soak them up. And share them! The people who post gushing TikTok videos and beautiful Instagram photos mostly enjoy it when authors share their creations, so share as many of the positive things as you can; it benefits everyone.
I don’t expect everyone to like my books, so if someone doesn’t, it isn’t my job to deal with them. That is their right, and I respect that. I put 100% of the focus into the people who do enjoy my books, and I do my very best to make those people happy.
Your main goal should be finishing your book. That’s a huge accomplishment, and if you start focusing too hard on the failures and successes of that book, you can become jaded and quickly lose your love for writing.
I’m not sure I would tell myself anything at all because I couldn’t be happier with where I ended up and who I ended up with. If anything, I would give my younger self a huge hug and tell her, “Way to go!”
I have none. Any success of mine that came from TikTok did not come from me, it came from the readers who have made videos about my books and shared them on the app. I rarely post there, and when I do, it’s not always about my books. I’ve had the app for several years and haven’t done anything new or different in the past year or two that would change the trajectory of my success. That credit all goes to the lovely people of BookTok.
I have a whole list of things. I wish I were better organized, I wish I were a better friend, I wish I could kick the imposter syndrome because it becomes debilitating sometimes, I wish I could get over my aversion to using metaphors, I wish I were better at keeping up with social media, I wish I were a better cook, I wish I had more willpower.
That’s tough, but I think I have a soft spot for Quinn and Graham from All Your Perfects. The struggles they go through together and their journey to reach the end of the book just really pulls on my emotions.
I have no idea. It’s like math, how every person can get to the same answer using a different method, but it’s like that with each book I write. I don’t have a method; I don’t have steps or rules I follow. I just somehow make it from the beginning to the end by the skin of my teeth and hope I get it right.
I think the key here is to reward myself before my day becomes stressful by doing everything I can to prevent stress from occurring. I am my own biggest advocate for my mental health. I very rarely have stressful days because I have catered my entire life and career around what leaves me the least stressed. I’ve stopped saying yes to anything that will cause me stress, namely television interviews. I’m also very lucky in that I have a wonderful support system. Not everyone who comes into your life has your best interest at heart, so knowing the people who surround me want to see me happy before they want to see me succeed is the key to a stress-free environment. With that being said, there are still stressful days despite my environment being as stress-free as I can possibly make it. If that’s the case, I simply call it a day and curl up on the sofa with my boys and watch a movie.
Before I started writing, we would celebrate big events (high school prom, birthdays, anniversaries) at Red Lobster. We considered that fine dining because the prices were something we’d have to save up for. And even though Red Lobster is now within our budget, we still save it for special occasions. If you see us at Red Lobster, we’re probably celebrating something.
If it’s something that stirs up excitement within me, I’ll do it. If it’s something that instills a sense of dread, I say no. I live my life with the singular goal of being happy, and that drives every choice I make.
My mother. She’s the first person who receives my chapters as I write them because she’s my biggest cheerleader.
I have to say How to Kill a Rockstar by Tiffanie DeBartolo. It was just the book I needed to read at the exact time I read it. I think sometimes our favorite books become our favorite due to timing as much as content.
“If you aren’t good with money, find someone who is.”
I am horrible with money. Any money advice I’ve ever received, I cannot retain. I realized a year into this career that I needed someone to intimidate me and keep me in line, so I hired my previous boss from before I started writing my first book. She was both fun and intimidating when I worked for her at WIC, and I respected her opinion over anyone else’s in my life. So I hired her and put her in that same role. I have to ask her permission to do anything, and I am genuinely scared of disappointing her, so I don’t make a single decision in my career without her approval. She’s very good with money and she forces me to be (almost) good with money.
Food. Everyone eats, so I love giving people gift baskets, chocolates, and gift cards to Red Lobster.
Happiness.
My mother never emphasized success or money when she discussed our future careers with us. She always emphasized happiness. Therefore, I chased happiness over everything else and I couldn’t be more grateful.
Marilyn La Jeunesse is a writer in New York City. Follow her on Instagram @mtlajeunesse.
