%%
%% Reminder: Works published as stand-alone stories may be put in ''italics''. Works published only in Anthologies or digest magazines should be in "quotemarks".
%%
%%

->''"There is no hard-and-fast definition of what either a novel or a short story is—at least not in terms of word count—nor should there be. But when a writer approaches the 20,000-word mark, he knows he is edging out of the country of the short story. Likewise, when he passes the 40,000-word mark, he is edging into the country of the novel. The borders of the country between these two more orderly regions are ill-defined, but at some point the writer wakes up with alarm and realizes that he's come or is coming to a really terrible place, an anarchy-ridden literary banana republic called the 'novella'."''
-->-- '''Creator/StephenKing''', ''Literature/DifferentSeasons'' (Afterword)

A type of ProseFiction which is essentially a short {{novel}} which is longer than the {{novelette}}. Described by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America as any work between 17,500 and 40,000 words in length. Depending on the definition, they can also be described as a ShortStory.

Novellas are relatively uncommon in modern English language publishing due to there being little market for them; they are too short to justify charging the price of a novel-sized book and also too long to fit comfortably in a modern literary magazine. However, there are notable exceptions. Novellas were popular in digest-sized magazines since they could be marketed as "containing a complete novel". E-publishing has also meant a resurgence of the format.

Quite a few {{video games}} in the 1980s came with novellas, which acted to provide {{backstory}} that wasn't possible to squeeze into the games themselves.

Novellas tend to have simpler plots than novels, but these plots necessitate more complexity than in a novelette due to the added length.

Compare: {{Novel}}, {{Novelette}}, ShortStory, LightNovels.
----
!!Examples:
[[index]]
* ''Alpha's Tale'', a tie-in to ''Literature/SurvivorDogs'' by Creator/ErinHunter
* ''Literature/TheAmbassadorsVoice'' by Creator/XeomunDholaka
* ''Literature/AndUsTooIGuess'', by Creator/GeorgeAlecEffinger (1973)
* ''Literature/AnimalFarm'' by Creator/GeorgeOrwell
* ''Literature/{{Anthem}}'' by Creator/AynRand
* ''Literature/AtTheMountainsOfMadness'', by Creator/HPLovecraft
* ''Literature/TheBalladOfBlackTom'', by Victor [=LaValle=]
* ''Literature/TheBasement'' by Stephen Leather
* ''Literature/BerenAndLuthien'' by Creator/JRRTolkien
* ''Literature/BillyBudd'', by Creator/HermanMelville
* ''Literature/{{Borrasca}}'', by Creator/CKWalker
* ''Literature/TheBoyWithBlueEyes'', by Travis Lee
* ''Literature/BreakfastAtTiffanys'', by Creator/TrumanCapote
* ''Literature/TheBridgeOfSanLuisRey'', by Creator/ThorntonWilder
* ''Literature/ByHisBootstraps'', by Creator/RobertAHeinlein
* ''Literature/{{Carmilla}}'', by Creator/JosephSheridanLeFanu
* ''Literature/ChainsOfTheSea'', by Creator/GardnerDozois (1973)
* ''Literature/TheChildrenOfHurin'', by Creator/JRRTolkien
* ''Literature/TheCircusOfDoctorLao'', by Creator/CharlesGFinney
* ''Literature/AChristmasCarol'', by Creator/CharlesDickens
* ''Literature/ColdSnap'', by Creator/KimNewman
* "Literature/CommonSense", by Creator/RobertAHeinlein
* ''Literature/{{Coraline}}'', by Creator/NeilGaiman
* ''Literature/DaisyMiller'', by Creator/HenryJames
* ''Literature/TheDreamEatersAndOtherStories'', by Louise Searl (''The Dream Eaters'' itself is a novella, the others are short stories).
* ''Literature/TheFallOfGondolin'', by Creator/JRRTolkien
* ''Literature/TheFallOfNumenor'' by Creator/JRRTolkien
* ''Literature/TheFifthChild'' by Doris Lessing
* ''Literature/FutureHistory'', by Creator/AaronWall
* ''Literature/TheFifthHeadOfCerberus'', by Creator/GeneWolfe (1972)
* ''Literature/TheGeneralFoundation'', by Creator/IsaacAsimov
* ''Literature/TheGoldAtTheStarbowsEnd'', by Creator/FrederikPohl (1972)
* ''Literature/TheGreatGodPan'', by Creator/ArthurMachen
* ''Literature/TheGypsiesInTheWood'', by Creator/KimNewman
* ''Literature/HeartOfDarkness'', by Creator/JosephConrad
* ''Literature/TheHellboundHeart'', by Creator/CliveBarker
* ''Literature/TheKeyToCharlotte'' by Creator/EAWest
* [[/index]] Creator/StephenKing's novellas have been published as stand-alone books as well as in {{Anthology}} collections: [[index]]
** ''Literature/BlockadeBilly''
** ''Literature/{{Carrie}}''
** ''Literature/DifferentSeasons''
** ''Literature/TheMist''
* ''Literature/TheLastHope'', by Creator/DonEvans
* ''Literature/LaviniaRising'' by Farah Rose Smith
* ''Literature/TheLiesOfTheAjungo'' by Moses Ose Utomi
* ''Literature/LikeWaterForChocolate'', by Creator/LauraEsquivel
* ''Literature/TheLineman'', by Creator/WalterMMillerJr (1957)
* ''Literature/TheManWhoGotOffTheGhostTrain'', by Creator/KimNewman
* ''Literature/MARiiMO'', by Creator/TyrelPinnegar
* ''Literature/TheMermaidVariations'', by Creator/RhysHuges
* ''Literature/TheMetamorphosis'', by Creator/FranzKafka
* ''Literature/TheMonsterOfElendhaven'', by Jennifer Giesbrecht
* ''Literature/TheMule'', by Creator/IsaacAsimov
* ''Literature/NightshadeTrilogy'', by Creator/AndreaCremer, includes a few Novellas:
** ''Aftermath''
** ''Treachery''
** ''Shadow Days''
* ''Literature/OfMiceAndMen'', by Creator/JohnSteinbeck
* ''Literature/TheOldManAndTheSea'', by Creator/ErnestHemingway
* ''Literature/TheOriginist'', by Creator/OrsonScottCard
* Chapter 22 of ''Literature/ThePaleKing''
* ''Literature/{{Pharmakembru}}'' series, by [[Creator/MonosDOA Monos D.O.A]]
* "{{Literature/Profession}}", by Creator/IsaacAsimov
* ''Literature/ThePushOfAFinger'', by Creator/AlfredBester
* ''Literature/TheSandmanTheDreamHunters'' by Creator/NeilGaiman, set in ''ComicBook/TheSandman1989''
* ''Literature/SearchByTheFoundation'', by Creator/IsaacAsimov
* ''Literature/SearchByTheMule'', by Creator/IsaacAsimov
* ''Literature/TheSerialMurders'', by Creator/KimNewman
* ''Literature/SevenStars'', by Creator/KimNewman
* ''Literature/TheShadowOutOfTime'', by Creator/HPLovecraft
* ''Literature/TheShadowOverInnsmouth'', by Creator/HPLovecraft
* ''Literature/ShadowsunTheLastOfKirusLine'', by Braden Campbell
* ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'' had four associated novellas:
** ''Literature/TheHoundOfTheBaskervilles''
** ''Literature/TheSignOfTheFour''
** ''Literature/AStudyInScarlet''
** ''Literature/TheValleyOfFear''
* ''Literature/TheShrineOfSebastian'', by Creator/GordonEklund (1973)
* ''Literature/TheShunnedHouse'', by Creator/HPLovecraft
* ''Literature/SorcererConjurerWizardWitch'', by Creator/KimNewman
* ''Literature/TheStranger'', by Creator/AlbertCamus
* ''{{Literature/Sula}}'', by Creator/ToniMorrison
* ''Literature/TheTentaclesFromBelow'', by Anthony Gilmore (PenName for Creator/HarryBates and Creator/DWHall)
* ''Literature/ThebeAndTheAngryRedEye'' by [[Webcomic/JackDavidHopkins David Hopkins]]
* ''Literature/ThisOtherWorld'', by Creator/ACBuchanan
* ''Literature/ToBeTaughtIfFortunate'', by Creator/BeckyChambers
* ''Literature/TrueNames'', by Creator/VernorVinge
* ''Literature/TwoDooms'', by Creator/CyrilMKornbluth (1958)
* ''Unstrung'', a tie-in to the ''Literature/{{Unwind}}'' trilogy, by Creator/NealShusterman
* ''Literature/{{Viy}}'', by Creator/NikolaiGogol
* [[/index]] Creator/AEVanVogt's [[index]] %%Creator indentation
** ''{{Literature/Asylum}}''
** ''Literature/RecruitingStation''
* ''Literature/WarriorCats'' tie-in novellas by Creator/ErinHunter:
** ''Hollyleaf's Story''
** ''Mistystar's Omen''
** ''Cloudstar's Journey''
** ''Tigerclaw's Fury''
** ''Leafpool's Wish''
** ''Dovewing's Silence''
** ''Mapleshade's Vengeance''
** ''Goosefeather's Curse''
** ''Ravenpaw's Farewell''
** ''Pinestar's Choice''
** ''Spottedleaf's Heart''
** ''Thunder's Echo''
* "Literature/TheWayToAmalteia", by Creator/BorisStrugatsky and Creator/ArkadyStrugatsky (1960)
* ''Literature/TheWhispererInDarkness'', by Creator/HPLovecraft
* ''Literature/WhoGoesThere''
** ''Literature/FrozenHell''
* ''Literature/WildflowerRanch''
[[/index]]
----