After all this time searching for an agent and finally securing one...I received a surprise email from a New York agency. They wanted to know if I was working on a book. As fate would have it, they discovered my latest short story in the Southwest Review. Many agents and editors subscribe to The Best American Short Stories, along with the top-notch literary reviews. It's a great way to get your voice out there. If you haven't finished (or even started) working on a book, you should consider publishing short stories in these anthologies. Here's proof that somebody actually reads them.