An Author Who Has Found Success on Her Terms: Colleen Hoover

“Do you read Colleen Hoover’s books? Great success story.” My friend’s message came with a link to a New York Times article on . . . who? Colleen Hoover? 

I clicked through to see who she is and what she writes and was thrilled to find a success story about a woman writer who is crazy successful. Earlier this month, she had not one spot on the NYT paperback best seller list but six. Six! 

Hoover self-published her first book in January 2012. Slammed is a young adult novel and seven months later it was on the NYT bestseller list. 

By May 2012, she had made $50,000. She did this without a publicist or a mega-publisher’s marketing team. In short, her success was and continues to be largely because of enthusiastic online reviews and reaction videos from her fans. I love that her fans love her so much. They are her marketing team. But I also love that she has achieved this by breaking the rules. 

Let’s start with her brand. Multiple people have told Hoover that she needs a brand. When people hear her name, they need to think Colleen Hoover, the young adult author or Colleen Hoover, steamy romance author. But Hoover rejected this idea. Her idea for branding? She’ll be Colleen Hoover. 

What about linking herself to a genre? Young adult would be convenient since that’s where she started. Hoover really isn’t interested in that either. She’s written young adult, romance, a psychological thriller, a ghost story, and gripping fiction. What her books have in common are gripping plots. 

Then there’s her backlist. Publishing has trained us to look toward new releases. These are where we are going to find our future bestsellers. Right? That hasn’t been Hoover’s experience. During 2020, Hoover made five of her books free. As readers polished these titles off, they moved on to her backlist. Sales grew and soon books that were several years old moved onto the bestseller list as her fans made TikTok videos that urged other readers to buy her older books. Her success has been pushed by her fans. There are no movie tie-ins. Her books aren’t being pushed by Oprah or any other celebrity. 

Oh, wait. And you know how we are constantly told that character growth is where it is at? Apparently, Hoover’s characters are flawed and stayed flawed. Readers are enticed by the action and the plot twists.

Book sellers are impressed because they are accustomed to books that fly off the shelves for a few weeks, two examples being Crying at H Mart or The Summer I Turned Pretty. Hoovers books just keep selling. 

The next time that you have a story that just won’t leave you alone, but you aren’t certain that it ticks all the boxes and follows all the rules, just write. Write the best story that you can. It worked for Colleen Hoover.

--SueBE

Sue Bradford Edwards' is the author of over 35 books for young readers.  To find out more about her writing, visit her site and blog, One Writer's Journey.

The next session of her new course, Pitching, Querying and Submitting Your Work will begin on November 6, 2022).  Coping with rejection is one of the topics she will cover in this course.

Sue is also the instructor for  Research: Prepping to Write Nonfiction for Children and Young Adults (next session begins November 6, 2022) and Writing Nonfiction for Children and Young Adults (next session begins November 6, 2022). 

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2 comments breaking rules, Colleen Hoover, successful authors, writing rules

Know Your Conventions

Don't forget your stepping stones

Last week, a writing friend contacted me because her nephew has written a children's book. She’s a successful author of speculative fiction but knows nothing about picture book publication. Does he need to supply illustrations? What are the first steps he should take? 

First things first, I had to be certain that I knew what she was asking. What are the first steps he should take in beating the manuscript into shape? Or what are the first steps he should take in getting it out in front of agents or editors? It turns out that the answer was choice “c,” “all of the above.” 

In case you are wondering, the answers to the above questions are: 

For traditional publication he does not need to supply illustrations if he is not an illustrator. He’s a cellist who doesn’t draw, so the answer is a firm no. 

First steps? He should read 50-100 picture books, find a critique group, and probably join SCBWI (The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators). The latter isn’t essential, but it is a great way to hook up with people who know picture books and that’s important. 

Picture books are their own unique creature. How so? They are only 32 pages long and many are under 500 words. Most texts take advantage of page turns to surprise the reader or add suspense. The text shouldn’t provide details that can come through the illustrations. 

Those are just a few of the basic conventions of picture book writing. But picture books aren’t the only form of literature that come with conventions or special requirements. Early readers also include illustrations (still not to be provided by non-illustrators) but there are also specific requirements in terms of manuscript format and line length. In cozy mysteries, your character can’t swear and there is no on-screen sex or violence. What you might consider including is a second murder. In science fiction, you should avoid describing how your faster-than-light travel works as well as on-ship gravity. These are givens in a lot of science fiction so explaining them is just a waste of word count. 

Whether you only write essays and autofiction or you also write novels, novellas, and flash, you need to know the conventions. They will provide the steppingstones that you need to make it from the first page to the final draft. 

Does this mean that you can never break them? It depends. Your goal is to write a piece that works. Can you ignore a convention and write something that works not only for you but also for your reader? If you can, then you have your answer. 

Still, it pays to know the conventions. They can save you a lot of work and frustration especially if you are a cellist who doesn’t draw, but you are writing an illustrated book. 

Conventions also provide us with a way to categorize our work. Follow the right set of conventions and when you approach your agent with a cozy mystery, you’ll know for a fact that that is what you’ve written. 

--SueBE

Sue Bradford Edwards' is the author of over 35 books for young readers.  To find out more about her writing, visit her site and blog, One Writer's Journey.

The next session of her new course, Pitching, Querying and Submitting Your Work will begin on October 5, 2022).  Coping with rejection is one of the topics she will cover in this course.

Sue is also the instructor for  Research: Prepping to Write Nonfiction for Children and Young Adults (next session begins October 5, 2022) and Writing Nonfiction for Children and Young Adults (next session begins October 5, 2022). 

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Leave a Comment conventions, picture book writing, writing rules

A Corn Maze from a Writer's Perspective

Making our way out of the corn maze.

Yesterday afternoon I ventured out to a local corn maze with my husband and two kids. At least two people in the family do pretty well with directions, so I figured with our map and general navigational skills, we could work ourselves out of seven-acre maze in no time, including finding the 12 different mailboxes we had to retrieve clues from.

Boy, was I wrong.

Within five minutes, my son, who had been chugging a bottle of water on the way to the maze, announced he had to go to the bathroom. Of course we were nowhere near one of the Porta Jons, so we had to stop so he could head back out of the entrance and visit the restroom area. Then we started all over again. We found four of the mailboxes within 20 minutes, then lagged behind. To be honest, we got behind a small child carrying one of the eight-foot flags we were all required to carry in case of an emergency and decided to deviate from the path to avoid getting bonked on the head. That was our downfall. We got frustrated when we saw other groups jump over borders we were not meant to take shortcuts on. We found ourselves near the end of the maze and discovered we had missed mailboxes 6 and 7 in our map and had to get help from a staff member, who sadly informed us we had to go all the way back around the outside perimeter of the maze to find those mailboxes.

At that point my daughter turned to me and said, “Have you noticed all the people that came into the maze with us, except for that one family over there, are gone now?” All the while, I’m thinking to myself, “There’s a writing lesson in here somewhere, for sure.”

Here are a few I can come up with now that I’m safely home and massaging my sore leg muscles.

You can have a strategy for a writing project, but it may not always work. There have been times I’ve outlined a service article, only to discover one of my sources either can’t help me or has decided they don’t want to be quoted. If I can’t find another source in that area, I have to rework my original plan in a way that makes sense so I can complete it and get it turned in on time. I once wrote a young adult manuscript in alternating POVs, only to have an editor at a conference tell me it was “too ambitious.” I had to start that one over from scratch, and it’s still not completed.

Give yourself more time on a project than you think you’ll need. I know, this goes without saying, but rarely do I do it myself. With the maze, we had to find our way out or spend the night in a cornfield. What I thought would take us about an hour instead took us an hour and thirty-five minutes. The above-mentioned manuscript I thought could be revised in month has been sitting on my hard drive for probably three years now. I didn’t stay the course and got frustrated. I need to treat that project as if my life depends on it (sell this thing that could produce actual income and pay some bills and quit ignoring it).

Follow the rules. We had a list of rules to follow at the maze, such as don’t break the stalks of corn, don’t take shortcuts (ahem!), don’t run unless you want to shatter a kneecap on rock half hidden in the dirt, and wave your flag in the air if you have a question or need help. Similarly, clarify assignment questions with an editor so you don’t turn in something completely different than was assigned, stay within your word count, find appropriate article sources, and follow submission rules for publications and agents so you don’t end up having your query deleted.

Being a writer can be tough and leave you frustrated and second guessing yourself on a regular basis. But take it from me, if I could make it out of that maze before the sun went down, you will find success if you work hard enough.

Jeanette Charlet Photography

Renee Roberson is an award-winning freelance writer and editor who is very glad her family decided not to do the corn maze at night with flashlights (that’s actually an option). Can you imagine? Visit her blog at Renee’s Pages.

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1 comment '10 Ways to Get Inspired by the World Around You', corn mazes, Renee Roberson, writing advice, writing rules

Don't Get Stuck in the Rules

by AMagill (Flickr)

I love working with authors through the classes I teach for WOW! and my editing business. But one thing I find when working with new writers or even someone who hasn't published yet is this great anxiety over RULES. I had it once--heck, I might even still have it. (Remember, to do as I say, not as I do.) But if you are too stuck in rules, then you might lose the passion, soul and voice of your story.

What rules am I talking about? Well, if you know me, I do believe grammar is important, and you should try to avoid typos if at all possible. But I'm talking about questions and worry over things like:

1. Should I put all the thoughts in italics?
2. What font should I use--Times New Roman or Courier?
3. Should I use chapter numbers or titles?
4. Do I type "THE END" at the bottom of my page?

and so on--you get the idea. Writers have enough to worry about, including but not  limited to:

• plot

• characters

• how to begin

• how to end

• subplots

• description

• realistic dialogue

• a muddy middle

• sensory detail

So whether or not to use italics should not be at the top of the worry list. I think in our race to get published and perhaps noticed, we tend to forget as much about perfecting the items on the second list as we should. It's easy to do because writing and getting published are one of the most difficult things you may ever undertake. So focusing on the mechanics and "rules" can sometimes make this overwhelming process seem like you have some control--I can put these words in italics and type the end! No problem. I got this.

But we all know that the story is what is important. Really. Writing the best beginning you can. Creating a character that all readers want to be or at least get behind. And leaving readers with an ending they will never forget.

So if you find yourself in great anxiety over a question, such as: is my heading correct on each page? instead of: Is my character arc strong enough? Take a deep breath. Relax. Envision yourself in your story and take off with it.

The biggest thing I tell all my students is just be consistent. Try to get all the rules correct and do things according to industry standards if at all possible. But above all, be consistent and write the best story you can.

What do you stress about when writing a story?

Margo L. Dill is a children's and YA novelist and writing teacher. Find out more at http://www.margodill.com.

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3 comments Margo L. Dill, writing anxiety, writing rules, writing stress

Friday Speak Out!: Everything You’ll Ever Need to Know About Writing, Guest Post by Brenda Moguez

“Write what you know…”

“Write stories like the ones you enjoy reading…”

“Find your voice….”

“Writing a shitty first draft is OK…”

“Write everyday…”

“Don’t write stories in first person present…”

“Follow the rules…”

“Words simply fall onto the page…”

“Writer’s block is real…”

“Anyone can write…”

“Writing can be taught…”

“Writing takes discipline…”

“Writing is a solitary pursuit…”

“Family, friends, and coworkers, will support your pursuit and understand why you write…”

“You will be rich…”

“You will be poor…"

“If you BLOG you will land an agent…”

“If you have a 1,000 followers on Facebook you will land an agent…”

“If you self-publish you’ll be labeled a loser…”

“If you write romance you’ll be labeled non-literary…”

“If you write literary fiction, you’ll be revered by 1,000 readers, and possibly the New Yorker…”

“If you write romance (any genre) your chances of discovery by the masses is far greater than if you wrote literary fiction…”

“If you write seriously and religiously, your bum will expand exponentially, as will your consumption of chocolate…”

“If you become a writer you will get lost in thought, be prone to staring at the wall, and will comb your life for snippets to write about…”

“As a writer you will become easily agitated if internet connectivity is lost for seconds…"

“As a writer you will need to choose between reality television and the blank page…”

“A writer’s best friend is the household pet—they LOVE everything the writer writes…”

“The writer’s worst enemy is the writer her/him self…”

“Fame and fortune will follow the first novel…”

“If you want it bad enough don’t stop believing…”

“Writing is hard…”

“Writing requires an investment of 10,000 hours…”

“A writer must keep journals…”

“Write honestly and authentically…”

“A writer must submit…”

“A writer must attend writing conferences to find an agent…”

“A serious writer requires an MFA…”

“A writer needs an outline to write a novel…”

“If you’re going to be a writer be prepared for rejection…”

Some, all, none are true. Each is relevant depending on the writer who is doing the writing.

The one item on this list I believe is fact for all writers: to be a writer requires an investment of time. Honestly, I wonder if ten thousand hours is enough. Other items on the list be aware of: chocolate or wine consumption might increase, your pet will adore you even if you split an infinitive here and there, and your ego will never, ever, except rejection gracefully.

Do you have anything to add to the list?

* * *

Brenda Moguez lives in San Francisco. She writes fiction with quirky, strong women, with non-formulaic endings because life isn’t always perfect. She writes by the light of the moon and between conference calls. She has aspirations for a fully staffed villa in Barcelona and funding aplenty for a room of her own. 

While she rides the agent query coaster for a women’s fiction novel, she’s working with The Wild Rose Press on the release of Luna Love, Loving is Good, a romance novella. When she’s not working on a story, she writes love letters to the universe, dead poets, and Mae West. You can find her at http://www.brendamoguez.com and https://www.facebook.com/BrendaMoguez, where she explores passionate pursuits in all its forms.
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Would you like to participate in Friday "Speak Out!"? Email your short posts (under 500 words) about women and writing to: marcia[at]wow-womenonwriting[dot]com for consideration. We look forward to hearing from you!

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4 comments Brenda Moguez, Friday Speak Out, writing rules