Colleen Hoover Isn't Sure How She Became TikTok's Favorite Writer, But She's Enjoying the Ride

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!).

My average morning

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.

How I deal with rejection

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.

How I stay motivated through writer’s block

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.

The best way to deal with haters

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.