As Hoover has grown from an indie author with a cult following to an inescapable pop culture phenomenon, there is also, inevitably, a growing chorus of online critics who say she’s overrated. Hoover gets it — she is tired of seeing herself on TikTok, too.
“My feed became all Colleen Hoover stuff,” she said. “I just wanted to see cat videos, you know?”
Occasionally, Hoover has turned to the novelist E L James, the author of the erotica blockbuster “Fifty Shades of Gray,” for advice about navigating sudden success. This summer, they spent a morning together in Dallas before the romance convention, getting blowouts, shopping at Target, where they stealthily signed copies of their books, and eating chicken fried steak at Cracker Barrel.
“I call her all the time about what’s going on with me right now,” Hoover said. “It’s weird and not that many people have gone through it.”
As her audience has grown, Hoover has struggled at times to maintain her close connection with her readers. After the romance convention, Hoover heard complaints from some volunteers and friends who felt slighted. Hoover cried on the drive home, and called her mother.
“She was like, ‘You know what, Colleen? This is the trade off,” Hoover said. “And I was like, you’re right. You know, I’m very thankful for everything that’s happening with my career. It’s also scary.”
Just as she never expected to be a best-selling author, she said, she doesn’t expect it to last.
“Still, in my head I’m like, ‘This is going to end tomorrow,’” she said. “So I need to enjoy it.”
Audio produced by Kate Winslett.
