Mark Malatesta Review by Peter E. Murphy | Mark Malatesta Reviews

Peter E. Murphy, author of a dozen books and chapbooks of poetry and prose, including A Tipsy Fairy Tale: A Coming of Age Memoir of Alcohol and Redemption (McFarland Books), provided this review of former literary agent Mark Malatesta. Peter worked with Mark to improve his manuscript, platform, book proposal, and query letter, which led to many literary agents asking to read his book. Scroll below to learn more. Click here to see all Mark Malatesta reviews. And click here to learn more about Literary Agent Undercover and The Bestselling Author after you read the review about Mark Malatesta below by Peter.

Mark Malatesta Review by Peter E. Murphy

I am beholden to Mark Malatesta, the amazing Agent Whisperer … erm … Agent Coach … who tough-loved my manuscript from a jumble of anecdotes into a story people might want to read. and then schooled me on how to present it to the world.

Many agents responded positively to the query Mark wrote for me—one of them expressed interest in less than 15 minutes. The agent who offered me representation talked about getting a book deal, and a deal with Netflix. I was really excited. I left the island where I live, to celebrate on the mainland at a diner, where I had coffee and a big piece of cheesecake. 

Two weeks later, while in Wales, I found out my agent had been fired! 

Mark stayed with me, we got multiple publishers interested, and I signed a contract with McFarland Books. The editor wrote to me and was very laudatory, and I’ve gotten many wonderful reviews, including from Harrison Scott Key, author of How to Stay Married: The Most Insane Love Story Ever Told. 

He said, “The good memoirist is, above all else, a magician, and the magic of A Tipsy Fairy Tale is in the masterful, subtle use of the second person. Second person generally makes me want to hurl a book into the ocean, but if you give yourself over to it, then all of a sudden you’re inside the book, flying into the ocean via this weird mind-meld fostered by all the Yous, and you forget that people are liars, and before you know it, you’re halfway through the story and you believe in humankind again.” 

Before I met Mark, part of me didn’t want to accept that I didn’t know what I was doing, trying to get an agent. As soon as we had our first conversation, I realized he was the real deal. My wife and my daughter encouraged me to go with Mark, and it was certainly worth everything: the time and money.  

After Mark read my manuscript, he shared many helpful comments. One was brilliant. He said the book wasn’t finished, that I spent too much time writing about the addiction part of my story, and not enough about the recovery and spirituality part.  

I didn’t want to hear that.  

It was a big ask. 

Mark helped me see that the story needed to continue. When I finally got it, and sent him the revised manuscript, he had me do more work. After that, he sent me a message from one of his readers (who “usually rips people”) that said: “Wow, the poet turned the memoir into a powerful transformative journey. He is magnificent and magical, gives me goosebumps. I’m truly amazed.”

I printed that quote out. 

If improving my memoir was all we’d done—if that had been the end of our relationship—it would have been worth the money. What I thought was the book, wasn’t the book. I wouldn’t have been able to write the best version without Mark showing me how, and encouraging me.

That was an amazing thing, and I’ll always be grateful.

Thank you…again and again.

Peter Murphy

Author of a dozen books, and chapbooks of poetry and prose, including A Tipsy Fairy Tale: A Coming of Age Memoir of Alcohol and Redemption (McFarland Books)

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Do you want to put yourself in the best position to get interest from multiple literary agents? Click here to get instant access to the Free Resources on our websites for authors and click here to find out how you can Schedule an Introductory Coaching Call. Mark Malatesta is founder of The Bestselling Author and Literary Agent Undercover, helping authors of all genres (fiction, nonfiction, and children’s books) get top literary agents, publishers, and book deals. The above review of Mark Malatesta was provided by author Peter E. Murphy.