Colleen Hoover says she feels 'guilty' for becoming successful just months after publishing her first book

• Colleen Hoover opened up about her career in a new interview with Time. 
• She said she feels "almost ashamed" and "guilty" for finding success so quickly.
• Hoover became a New York Times bestseller seven months after publishing her first book. 

Colleen Hoover addressed her unconventional path to success in a new interview. 

From June 22 to 24, Hoover and her sisters hosted Book Bonanza, an annual, weekend-long festival they created through their nonprofit The Bookworm Box.

Lucy Feldman of Time spoke with Feldman for a series of interviews throughout the weekend, talking about everything from her work to her new life as an empty nester.

During one of their conversations, Hoover spoke to Feldman about feeling "almost ashamed" of her meteoric rise to success. 

"I feel like I haven't paid my dues," she told Feldman. "There are so many writers who are such good, literary writers who have been hoping to hit the New York Times or find their audience for years, and it happened to me in a matter of months almost by accident."

"I know I can't compare my story to other people's, but the more I tell it, the more guilty I feel," she also said to Feldman. 

As Insider previously reported, Hoover self-published her first novel "Slammed" in 2012 while living in a single-wide trailer with her husband and three children. Seven months after she published it, the novel was a New York Times bestseller, and Hoover has gone on to write dozens more books.

Her work includes the widely popular "It Ends With Us," which is being turned into a movie starring Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni. Hoover faced criticism at the beginning of the year for nearly publishing a coloring book inspired by the best-selling book, which is largely about domestic violence. Her publisher, Atria Books, later announced the project wouldn't move forward.

Despite the controversy, Hoover was named one of Time's 100 Most Influential People in April 2023, with Jenna Bush Hager writing, "Whether you count yourself a Colleen Hoover fan or not, her influence on the publishing industry is undeniable."