Literary magazines, both online and in print, are such an important means of supporting creative work—for writers, readers, and the staff of those publications—and they’ve proved to be a great resource to me as a literary agent. Writers are often advised to place stories or essays in lit mags as a first step toward finding an agent or publishing a book, but landing a piece in one of these outlets can be a long and difficult process, and to what extent agents place importance on a writer’s lit mag credentials and scout from these publications varies widely. Given the range of opinions on this subject, I want to stress that the thoughts and recommendations I’m sharing here are based on my own experience, and other agents might think differently. {read}