Colleen Hoover self-published her first book Slammed , which became Amazon and New York Times bestsellers. Eventually, the book got picked up by Simon & Schuster. The movie rights were sold. She wrote more bestselling books. Great story, right? This is where it gets better. Reading her blog , I noticed this under "About Me": "19) I’m very unemotional and I’m not a romantic at all. So the fact that I write romance novels that make a lot of people cry is really strange." Unexpected, but interesting. I read on ... "12) I had never read a romance novel before writing SLAMMED. I pretty much stuck to true crime non-fiction and biographies before then. " Blew. Me. Away. Never read a romance novel? The conventional wisdom in fiction writing is you have to read a lot, especially in your genre. For most writers, it's probably a good idea to read a lot in your genre. You can learn about what makes for a good read or a bad read, what sells, what's