The Best American Short Stories has been published since 1915, making it the oldest continuous series of its type.
The series was published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt prior to HarperCollins acquiring HMH Books & Media in 2021.
A work is eligible for the series if it is published in English (or published in another language but translated into English by the author) in the United States, Canada, Mexico, or Greenland; if it first appeared, or was significantly revised, during the previous year; and if the author comes from or chiefly lives in North America.
Works that do not make the final cut are often given honorable mention in an alphabetical list at the back of the book.
Many editions have a mix of works from well-established authors—examples include Joyce Carol Oates, Michael Chabon, and Lorrie Moore—along with up-and-coming writers who have achieved moderate success, such as Benjamin Percy, Kyle Minor, and Ander Monson.