Get a Literary Agent
The Bestselling Author™ provides resources and coaching to help writers discover how to become a bestselling author. We support writers of all book genres (fiction, nonfiction, and children’s books) at all stages of development, around the world. Not every author can make the NY Times bestseller list, but every author wants (and deserves) to reach as many people as possible. That’s why we encourage authors to get the support they need to secure a top literary agent, publisher, and book deal. That’s our specialty.
The Bestselling Author™
GET FREE INSTANT ACCESS!
Scroll below now to become a premium member of our online community absolutely FREE. You’ll get instant access to our best premium content to help you become a bestselling author:
* Our Audio Training Library with insider advice, interviews, and Q&A sessions (text transcripts also available)
* The Ask a Question area of our website where you can ask anything about writing, publishing, or marketing your books* Live broadcasts (and audio replays) of our Radio Show with special guests publishing industry executives and bestselling authors such as Mary Higgins Clark, Nelson DeMille, and Diana Gabaldon.
* Invitations to other Special Events (online and in-person)
* The official Directory of Literary Agents
*The Book Genre Dictionary
* The opportunity to register for 1-on-1 Author Coaching via phone or Skype from anywhere in the world during an introductory coaching session
* Special offers, bonuses, and discounts for our products and services
* Insider Articles and Updates
A note from the founder of The Bestselling Author™
Dear Author,
My name is Mark Malatesta and I’m the founder of The Bestselling Author™. I am a former literary agent, former AAR member, and former Marketing & Licensing manager for a well-known publisher. Today, I’m an author coach–and the main reason I started working in the publishing industry was to find out how to get my own books published. That’s why I know what you’re going through as an author. And, now, I also know what you need to do to become a bestselling author.
My authors have gotten 6-figure book deals with major publishers like Random House, Penguin Books, Simon & Schuster, Scholastic, and Thomas Nelson. They’ve been on bestseller lists such as the NY Times and USA Today; had their work picked up for TV, stage, and feature film (with companies like Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks); won countless awards; and had their work licensed in more than 40 countries… resulting in millions of books sold. Click here to see Mark Malatesta Reviews and click here to see General Reviews about The Bestselling Author™.
Who knows… you might be next!
Simply enter your first name and email address above to be come a member of The Bestselling Author™. We’ll send you some things so you can get started. We make it easy to find what’s important to you. We’ll never share your email address with anyone, and we’ll only send you information relevant to what you signed up for. If you do decide to leave us one day, we make that easy, too. All you have to do is click on the link at the very bottom of any email you get from us and you’ll be able to unsubscribe instantly.
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The Bestselling Author
What People Are Saying
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“I like that The Bestselling Author™ actually provides real content! I’m sick of Internet Marketers who recycle information from other marketers, providing nothing of substance. With you, I usually get one or two tips that, if nothing else, remind me of what I should be doing.
I’ve been in the writing business in one form or another for 50 years now, and my son works in the publishing industry, so I get all sorts of direct information from behind closed doors. Based on that, and based on what you say in your emails, you are spot on.”
– Don Child
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“The Bestselling Author™ audio library with your signature presentation about how to get a top literary agent was the best gift I’ve encountered in a long time.
It woke me up to the notion that getting a literary agent and getting published by a traditional publisher such as Random House isn’t luck—it’s a decision. Within seconds of hearing that, I decided to start sending out queries for my book. Now I already have 5 top literary agents who’ve requested my complete manuscript or sample chapters!
Before I listened to your MP3 I wondered, ‘What could I possibly get from a former literary agent speaking for an hour when I don’t even have a query letter written yet?’ I’m not ready to get a literary agent. But if I hadn’t listened, I wouldn’t have been able to write the query letter. You shared a lot of explicit information about how agents think. While my original pitch wasn’t entirely written on a lobster bib, napkin, or the palm of my hand, it lacked substance… and it didn’t have the best structure.
Your mp3 at The Bestselling Author™ also shared powerful stories and insights that helped me position myself in a better way. I would have overlooked potential credentials, information, credibility, credence, background, and interesting elements about myself. I didn’t feel they mattered or measured up on paper. Anyone who listens to your mp3 should thank his or her lucky stars for that alone.
You also expressed the truism that agents are real people—human. They didn’t get a degree to become an agent, and we shouldn’t be intimidated if they exercise their patriotic freedom to use their ego. Hearing that was helpful because it can be very daunting trying to get a literary agent, and it’s easy to view their responses as personal.
It’s never too early for an author to open the front door to your online audio library and listen. Smart authors will pay attention and feel lucky to have a dream team partner like you who is knowledgeable but also warm and caring. Although you don’t know most of us personally, you keep encouraging us and sharing your valuable information and insight.
We all need that.
So often in life we say, ‘I can’t take it anymore. I can’t handle this. It’s too much.’ But as soon as you say you can’t get a literary agent, then you can’t. And as soon as you make a decision that you can get a literary agent, you can. Everything is a decision for me now. Yes or no, but I decide. I don’t just wait, I decide. I don’t just wish, I decide.
Your MP3 at The Bestselling Author™ catapulted me into a different stratosphere of how I approach my publishing goals, and everything else in my life—finances, romance, and daily living—because everything is a decision. You woke me up, reinvigorated me, and changed me.
And things are actually happening.
Thank you!!!”
– LB Robbins
Well, what are you waiting for? Tens of thousands of authors are already part of our community. Scroll above now and enter your info to join The Bestselling Author™ and find out what you’ve been missing.
I’m looking forward to helping YOU
become a bestselling author!
– Mark
Mark Malatesta
The Bestselling Author, LLC
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"Ballantine Books published my first two novels in hardcover and paperback after Mark Malatesta helped create an auction and bidding war for my books, resulting in a six-figure offer. Mark is one of the rare and genuine good guys, but he also has incredible information (even his ideas have ideas). One of the most important keys to success as an author is good information and support." [Click here to see all Mark Malatesta reviews]
"Not long after Mark helped me land a top literary agent, I got a call from my agent letting me know that I had three different publishing offers from well-known publishers: Amacom, Palgrave Macmillan, and McGraw-Hill who recently published my book in hardcover! It was a fantastic feeling and a huge smile came over my face. For a moment I felt like life was perfect and the angels were singing." [Click here to see all Mark Malatesta reviews]
"Mark helped me get five different offers for representation from top literary agents. I signed with Stephanie Tade who got me a 6-figure book deal with Penguin Books, which published my book in hardcover! When Stephanie first contacted me, she was very excited and said, ‘I can’t get your book proposal out of my head. It’s brilliant – I mean, really, it’s fantastic. Editors should be salivating by the time they get to the chapter outline.’ Working with Mark was completely worth it." [Click here to see all Mark Malatesta reviews]
"Before I decided to work with Mark, I submitted my book to literary agents but didn’t get any interest. After I revised my query letter and book proposal, I got several agencies interested and decided to sign with Fine Print Lit, a top literary agency in New York. They got publishers bidding against each other and I ended up signing a contract with Thomas Nelson (an imprint of Harper Collins) for what I’ve been told by several people is a very large advance. What cloud is higher than 9?" [Click here to see all Mark Malatesta reviews]
"Finding Mark has been both a treat and a treasure. I now have two different agents for my work, and a book deal with Sky Horse Publishing. I’ve served as Creative Director of the TIME Incorporated Magazine Group; Director of Time World News Service, a Founding Director of TIME-Life Films; Executive Producer for both the CBS and NBC Television Networks; and Producer/ Director: Movies of the Week: CBS Cinema Center Films and Universal MCA. You just can’t do it alone today as an author." [Click here to see all Mark Malatesta reviews]
"It has been an awfully long and bloody road towards publication but I’m finally on my way. Hard work, struggle, disappointments, and perseverance are important. So is following the advice of publishing industry experts like Mark. He helped me get a top literary agent and now my novel, The Wrong Hand is being published by Penguin Books and their prestigious Michael Joseph imprint, which is ‘principally interested in publishing Top Ten Bestsellers’. It’s hard not to be excited." [Click here to see all Mark Malatesta reviews]
"Berkley Books recently published my book in hardcover after Mark helped me get multiple agents interested in my work. I was able to speak with literary agents from top agencies such as Janklow & Nesbit, Trident Media, Anderson Lit, and Folio. I signed with Don Fehr at Trident Media and a short time later I had a publishing contract! Having Mark on your side is incredibly valuable." [Click here to see all Mark Malatesta reviews]
"I got the number one agent on my wish list thanks to Mark. He’s done more than 100 deals in just two year and has a long list of accolades, including being talked about in the New York Times. Within 4 minutes of sending out my revised query letter, my literary agent called me on the phone. Less than 30 days later I had three major publishers making offers. And, a few days after that, I signed a deal with Random House. Mark’s query letter did that." [Click here to see all Mark Malatesta reviews]
"When I got the phone call about my publishing offer with Harcourt, I was in my office with three other people. I slammed down the phone, ran into the secretary’s office, threw myself down on the floor and said, ‘I got a deal!’ They sat there and held my hand. I was speechless. I’ve never ever been that happy in my life. On my wedding day I wasn’t that happy! Getting married and having children are wonderful experiences, but I didn’t ‘work’ to get my children!" [Click here to see all Mark Malatesta reviews]
"Before I revised my query letter with Mark, I got no responses. When I sent out my new query, I got four requests for more material within 24 hours The support Mark provides is fantastic. His suggestions changed my original query significantly, but they also helped me see that I had something to offer. Now I have a top agent! Mark is smart and reliable and working with him has made all the difference." [Click here to see all Mark Malatesta reviews]
About Mark Malatesta
MARK MALATESTA is a former literary agent turned author coach. Mark now helps authors of all genres (fiction, nonfiction, and children's books) get top literary agents, publishers, and book deals through his company Literary Agent Undercover and The Bestselling Author. Mark's authors have gotten six-figure book deals, been on the NYT bestseller list, and published with houses such as Random House, Scholastic, and Thomas Nelson. Click here to learn more about Mark Malatesta and click here for Reviews of Mark Malatesta.
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