By Ellen Madden
Colleen Hoover is a number one bestselling author who wrote twenty-four novels and novellas. Colleen Hoover, formally known as Margaret Colleen Fennell, was born on the 11th of December 1979 in Texas to her parents, Vannoy Fite and Eddie Fennell. In 2000 she married the love of her life, Heath Hoover, and had three sons.
Before rising to fame, Colleen Hoover graduated from Texas A&M Commerce with a degree in social work. Later, she worked as a social worker and in various teaching positions.
Her target market is those that fit in with young adult contemporary romance categories and psychological thriller genres. Before fame, she self-published her books; later, publishing houses published her books, such as Atria Publishing and Grand Central Publishing.
In 2015, Hoover and her family founded “The Bookworm Box,” a charity bookshop that also involves a yearly book signing event, known as “Book Bonanza.” This event invites over two hundred authors and hosts an auction where the profits go towards various food banks and other charities across America annually. “The Bookworm Box” donated over $1,000,000 to these foundations.
Hoover wrote her first book in November 2011, Slammed, which was inspired by the lyric “decide what to be and go be it” from Avett Brothers. Slammed was self-published in January 2012. A month later, Hoover published a sequel, Point of Retreat.
These books were ranked eight and eighteen on the New York Times Best Seller List in August 2012, they were later republished by Atria Books. In April 2013, her last book of this trilogy, This Girl was published.
Due to her first series being unbelievably successful, she was able to quit her job as a social worker and become a full-time writer.
The second series published was called the Hopeless series, which involved five books: Hopeless, Losing Hope, Finding Cinderella, All Your Perfects, and Finding Perfect. Hopeless was written about a girl who was homeschooled and is now enrolled in a public high school. This book was awarded number one New York Times Best Seller in January 2013.
Hoovers’ third series was a trilogy that included Maybe Someday, Maybe Not, and Maybe Now. As this was a book based on a couple writing music together, a musician called Griffen Peterson released a playlist that the reader can listen to whilst reading the book.
Her latest series was based on raising awareness of the problem of domestic violence, which Hoover witnessed in her own family life. In January 2022, It Ends with Us became number one on the New York Times Best Seller List. Later in the year, Hoover published a sequel, It Starts with Us, which became the most pre-ordered book for Atria Books after being marketed by Simon & Schuster publishers.
Colleen Hoover has also authored various stand-alone novels and novellas, which have received different awards. It is clear to see that by Hoover following her dreams to become a writer, she was able to advocate for different matters while building a strong reader audience who cannot wait to see what other novels she will produce in the near future.