Colleen Hoover’s Strategy to Handle It Ends with Us Critics Mirror 50 Shades of Grey Author (Exclusive) [Video]

Bestselling author Colleen Hoover, 44, started her writing journey as a fan, bonding online with fellow readers over their favorite books before she ever wrote one of her own. So even after her books started getting more and more attention — including some harsh criticism for the depiction of domestic violence in It Ends With Us — stepping away from her social media would have felt like leaving her community behind.

“I don’t want to delete my socials and disappear just because they’re not as positive as they used to be because I feel like that would be punishing the people that have gotten me where I am,” she told PEOPLE for an exclusive story in this week’s print issue.

“There’ve been levels at my career as I’ve seen it kind of steadily grow, where I’m like, ‘Okay, this is …