Walk into any bookstore, it’s impossible to escape seeing one of this author’s books on bestseller shelves. Her popularity has groped fans with the desire to know more about her life including the Colleen Hoover net worth, family life, relationships, and more.
Well, It Ends With Us fame Colleen not just has one or two, but six bestsellers along with a loyal and solid fan base. But do you know Colleen is an accidental author? Here, find more exciting things about your favorite writer!
| Name | Colleen Hoover |
| Born | Margaret Colleen Fennell, Sulphur Springs, Texas Us |
| Alma mater | Texas A&M, Commerce (BA) |
| Age | 43 |
| DOB | December 11, 1979, |
| Profession | Author |
| Genre | New adult fiction, Young adult fiction |
| Famous For | It Ends With Us |
| Parent(s) | Eddie Fennell, Vannoy Fite |
| Spouse | Heath Hoover (m 2000) |
| Children | 3 |
| Instagram Account | @colleenhoover |
| Twitter Account | @colleenhoover |
Table of Contents
Personal life
Colleen Hoover was born on December 11, 1976. At the time, her parents, Vannoy Fite and Eddie Fennell, were in Sulphur Springs, Texas, the birthplace of Colleen. Apart from her, she has two sisters, Cohen and Lin Reynolds. The family eventually moved to Saltillo, and that is where Hoover grew up.
In 1998, she graduated from Saltillo High School. She started to pursue her career in writing during her high school days, but due to her family, Hoover decided to put it aside.
Afterward, Hoover moved to receive her bachelor’s grade in social work. She graduated from Texas A&M Commerce. After completing her studies, Hoover worked in different jobs, from being a social worker to a teacher, before she debuted as an author.
Hoover is private about her personal life and family. It’s known she has been married to William Heath Hoover since 2000. The couple have three sons, Cale, Levi, and Beckham.
Family and financial crisis
Colleen shared about how she became an author. She said it was accidental for her.
During an interview with Today, Colleen mentioned her sister, who started to learn and read before her. It made her feel jealous as she wanted to articulate the ideas and stories.
Before entering college, she was married to William and had three kids. At that time, they had a tough financial situation, forcing Colleen to put her writing aside and choose a stable job for her family.
But her interest in writing never faded. Nor did the situation make her think otherwise.
Colleen stuck to her writing even as a hobby through the struggle of getting financially better.
Career
After pausing her writing during school days, Colleen began working on her new novel. She used to borrow a laptop from her mother and use her free time to write.
Accidentally debut novel and Avett Brother
Colleen talked about what made her write her first novel. She was listening to the Avett Brothers’ song ‘Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise.’
From the whole song, one line, ‘decided what to be and go be it,’ stuck in her mind. This made her think of something new to the story and she began her first work.
In November 2011, she started to work on ‘Slammed,’ which led to her debut as an author. However, at that time, Colleen had no intention of getting her work published. The novel was completed, and Hoover self-published it in January 2012.
She stated the purpose of publishing the novel was her grandmother, as she had received her Amazon Kindle at that time for Christmas. Colleen was looking for a way to shift a document to Kindle so her grandmother could read it. She came across the Amazon self-publication platform. That made her think she could upload her novel here.
Sequel and Debut success
In February 2012, Hoover published ‘Point of Retreat,’ a sequel to her first novel. Even though she had no hopes for these novels, Marsye Black, a book blogger, reviewed her books.
On her blog, she gave five stars to ‘Slammed,’ leading to the rapid sales of Hoover’s first book. The success of ‘Slammed’ also affected her sequel, ranking both novels 8 and 18 on The New York Times Best Sellers list in August 2012.
Atria Books picked up Hoover’s novels, and they republished both under their publication house on August 10, 2012.
Quitting Jobs and Collaboration
After her books started to sell, the writer came up with another series, ‘This Girl.’ The novel was published in April 2012.
During this time, Colleen had an idea that her career as an Author would work. However, due to a lack of time, she decided to quit her job in social work. The writer has turned into a committee full-time author since then.
Colleen completed and published her novel, Hopeless. It was self-published in December 2012. The story focuses on a girl who was home-schooled throughout elementary school but had to go to a public high school for further studies.
The book received a good response and reached #1 on the list of New York Times Best Sellers. After staying for three weeks, the book became the first self-published novel to receive such a ranking.
In 2014, Hoover published a free novella ‘Finding Cinderella.’ The novel had characters from Hopeless and Losing Hope. The book also had a paperback with bonus features, new episodes, etc.
Hoover came with her first small series, ‘Maybe Someday,’ about a boy and a girl who come together to write music but fall in love. For the book, Musician Griffin Peterson created the soundtrack that followed the novel’s story.
Those soundtracks were added to the e-book as a link and QR code in Paper Books. So, the readers can listen to the music and visit their website.
Own life inspired ‘It End With Us’
It Ends With Us, the novel that made Colleen popular and trending on TikTok. The book was loosely based on her own mother. Colleen witnessed her mother in an abusive relationship. She mentioned her early memory, saying her father threw a television at her mother.
She grew up in a family with domestic violence and constant struggle. Talking about her mother, Colleen said she is one of the strong women, and her story has given courage to people to get out of such a situation. Colleen described the story as the hardest to write as she had to revisit all the bad memories.
It Ends With Us was published in 2016. The story is about Lily, who grew up in a family that experienced domestic violence, as her father was violent towards her mother. But even becoming an adult, she ends up in a similar situation.
The book has sold more than a million after its publication and has been translated into 20 different languages. In 2021, the novel received immense attention from the Booktok community, creating a strong fan base for the writer.
In January 2022, It was announced the novel will get a movie adaptation starring Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni, and Brandon Sklenar.
Sequel and success
After the grand success of the first novel ‘It End With Us,’ Colleen published the sequel ‘It Starts With Us’ on October 18, 2022, under Atria Books publication.
Simon & Schuster released the extensive marketing companion details for the novel. This made it one of the most pre-ordered books of all time.
In October 2022, they acquired the two standalone from Hoover, which will be released in 2024 and 2026.
As of October 2023, the writer sold over 20 million books. She currently ranks as one of the most successful authors and best-selling novelists. According to Alexandra Alter from The New York Times, Hoover has a loyal and large audience.
Works and upcoming books
Colleen Hoover net worth has the overall collection of all profits from her book. The writer has 26 books in her collections.
It includes series, standalone, novellas, and short stories.
Series
It Ends with Us series
- It Ends with Us
- It Starts with Us
Slammed series
- Slammed
- Point of Retreat
- This Girl
Hopeless series
- Hopeless
- Losing Hope
- Finding Cinderella ( novella )
- Finding Perfect ( novella)
Maybe Someday series
- Maybe Someday
- Maybe Not (novella)
- Maybe Now
Standalone
- Never Never (three-part novella with Tarryn Fisher)
- Ugly Love
- Confess
- November
- Too Late
- Without Merit
- Verity
- Reminders of Him
- Layla
- Heart Bones
- All Your Perfects
- Regretting You
- November 9
Short stories
- A Father’s Kiss ( The Kiss )
- Saint ( One More Step)
- The Dress ( Two More)
Best works, awards and achievements
Colleen’s net worth shows the success she had so far, apart from one of the successful selling records.
In 2022, the novelist had six of the top ten in The New York Times paperback fiction under the bestseller list category. It includes:
- Slammed (ranked 8)
- Point of Retreat (ranked 18)
- Hopeless (ranked 1)
- This Girl (ranked 9)
- Losing Hope (ranked 6)
- Ugly Love (ranked 4)
- Maybe Someday (ranked 3)
- Ugly Love (ranked 4)
- Confess (ranked 4)
- November 9 (ranked 9)
- It Ends With Us (ranked 1)
- Verity (ranked 2)
The Author also received various awards and achievements, including:
- Goodreads Choice Awards in 2012 for Slammed (nominated)
- Goodreads Choice Awards in 2013 for Losing Hope (nominated)
- Goodreads Choice Awards in 2013 for This Girl (nominated)
- utopYA Con awards in 2014 for Maybe Someday (won)
- Goodreads Choice Awards in 2015 for Confess (won)
- Goodreads Choice Awards in 2016 for It End With Us (won)
Colleen Hoover net worth
After becoming one of the top bestsellers, fans are curious to know how much does Colleen Hoover makes. Well, the writer has top six bestseller novels, including It Ends with Us, Verity, Ugly Love, It Starts with Us, November 9, and Reminders of Him.
To get a complete idea about the net worth Colleen Hoover, here is a chart for you:
| Years | Net worth |
|---|---|
| Colleen net worth 2023 | $10 million |
| Colleen net worth 2022 | $9 million |
| Colleen net worth 2021 | $8 million |
| Colleen net worth 2020 | $7 million |
| Colleen net worth 2019 | $6 million |
Controversies
Apart from Colleen Hoover net worth, people are curious about the controversies surrounding the writer. It includes:
Romanticizing abuse
Hoover also has controversy for her writing style. One of them includes her romanticizing domestic abuse and unhealthy relationships in writing. Many readers consider Colleen’s writing to be overall rated and don’t consider her work to have the quality.
Sexual Assaulting
Hoover faced backlash for the sexual assault case. In 2022, Hoover’s son was accused of assaulting a 16-year-old Girl.
The internet criticized her son for his activities. However, the writer claimed to take accountability for her son’s actions and deal with the situation. But it disappointed lots of her fans the way she handled everything.
Coloring Book
After the massive success of ‘It End With Us,’ Hoover announced in January 2023 that the novel would have its adaptation into a coloring book. The idea was not entertained by many people telling what the coloring book would be.
It Ends With Us shows domestic violence, and Lily, the main character, is suffering from childhood and ends up in a similar situation as an adult. The story has lots of incidents described, which can trigger the readers.
According to the fans, such a novel getting a coloring book adaptation has no meaning or point. Colleen Hoover received lots of criticism and backlash for using the chance to grab more money.
Some fans declared they didn’t want to support Hoover after such a decision.
Final Thoughts
Colleen Hoover net worth and success show her dedication to writing. Even after difficult times and experiencing domestic violence firsthand, she didn’t let it discourage her.
Not only does she become an encouragement to people aspiring to be like her, but her stories are helping people find a way to deal with such situations. Colleen is talented and entertains her fans through her stories and characters.
FAQ
1. Why Does It Ends With Us a Controversial Book?
The novel by Colleen Hoover is criticized for glorifying abusive relations and domestic violence.
2. What style did Colleen Hoover write?
Colleen Hoover writes young and new adult contemporary romance along with psychological thrillers.
3. What are the most famous Colleen Hoover books?
Hoover has six famous, but the most popular ones are It Ends With Us, Verity, and Reminders of Him.
4. Which Colleen book is most sold?
It Starts With Us became the fourth book that hit rank 1 in 2022, following up It Ends With Us with more than 4 million copies.
5. Are Colleen’s books suitable?
Her books are appropriate for mature adults aged 17 and older. But it is not recommended under the age of 14.
