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Short stories // Reference

Facts and figures

The numbers behind the short stories guides, each with its source. Figures are stated as the source states them.

  • The Nebula Awards rules define a short story as fewer than 7,500 words.[1]
  • The Nebula Awards rules define a novelette as at least 7,500 words but fewer than 17,500 words.[1]
  • The Nebula Awards rules define a novella as at least 17,500 words but fewer than 40,000 words, and a novel as 40,000 words or more.[1]
  • Poe said the short prose tale requires from a half-hour to one or two hours to read.[2]
  • Boccaccio's Decameron, thought to have been written between 1348 and 1353, contains 100 tales.[3]
  • Guy de Maupassant (1850 to 1893) wrote 300 short stories.[4]
  • The Nobel Prize in Literature for 2013 was announced on 10 October 2013 and awarded to Alice Munro, master of the contemporary short story.[5]
  • Project Gutenberg reported nearly 78,000 items as of 22 March 2026.[6]
  • Standard Ebooks' Chekhov Short Fiction edition runs to 791,910 words.[7]
  • The Berne Convention sets a general minimum of protection until the 50th year after the author's death, and countries may grant longer terms.[8]
  • In the United Kingdom, copyright in most literary works lasts 70 years from the end of the calendar year in which the author dies.[9]
  • As of 1 January 2026, works first published in the US before 1931 are in the public domain due to copyright expiration.[10]

Sources

  1. Nebula Rules
    Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA), 2026at least 17,500 words but fewer than 40,000 words
  2. Review of Twice-Told Tales (Edgar Allan Poe, Graham's Magazine)
    Wikisource, 1842from a half-hour to one or two hours in its perusal
  3. The Decameron
    Wikipedia, 2026-10-08thought to be written between 1348 and 1353
  4. Guy de Maupassant
    Wikipedia, 2026-10-04the greatest master of the short story in world literature
  5. Press release: The Nobel Prize in Literature 2013
    NobelPrize.org (Nobel Prize Outreach), 2013-10-10The Nobel Prize in Literature for 2013 is awarded to the Canadian author Alice Munro
  6. Project Gutenberg
    Wikipedia, 2026-10-12not protected by copyright in the United States
  7. Short Fiction by Anton Chekhov (Constance Garnett translation)
    Standard Ebooks, 2014-05-25all translated by Constance Garnett, and arranged by the date they were originally published
  8. Summary of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (1886)
    World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), n.d.until the expiration of the 50th year after the author's death
  9. Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, section 12
    legislation.gov.uk, 198870 years from the end of the calendar year in which the author dies
  10. Welcome to Copyright at Cornell: Copyright term and the public domain in the United States
    Cornell University Library, 2026-01-01In the public domain due to copyright expiration

General information, not professional or medical advice. Found a mistake? Write to [email protected].