diff --git a/README.rst b/README.rst
index 22d3062..82dc479 100644
--- a/README.rst
+++ b/README.rst
@@ -49,7 +49,9 @@ CLI Help output::
                   [-P] [-F] [--prefer-ssh] [-v]
                   [--keychain-name OSX_KEYCHAIN_ITEM_NAME]
                   [--keychain-account OSX_KEYCHAIN_ITEM_ACCOUNT]
-                  [--releases] [--assets] [--exclude [REPOSITORY [REPOSITORY ...]]
+                  [--releases] [--latest-releases NUMBER_OF_LATEST_RELEASES]
+                  [--skip-prerelease] [--assets]
+                  [--exclude [REPOSITORY [REPOSITORY ...]]
                   [--throttle-limit THROTTLE_LIMIT] [--throttle-pause THROTTLE_PAUSE]
                   USER
 
@@ -124,6 +126,10 @@ CLI Help output::
                             keychain that holds the personal access or OAuth token
       --releases            include release information, not including assets or
                             binaries
+      --latest-releases NUMBER_OF_LATEST_RELEASES
+                            include certain number of the latest releases;
+                            only applies if including releases
+      --skip-prerelease     skip prerelease and draft versions; only applies if including releases
       --assets              include assets alongside release information; only
                             applies if including releases
       --exclude [REPOSITORY [REPOSITORY ...]]
diff --git a/github_backup/github_backup.py b/github_backup/github_backup.py
index d429acb..562313a 100644
--- a/github_backup/github_backup.py
+++ b/github_backup/github_backup.py
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ from urllib.error import HTTPError, URLError
 from urllib.parse import quote as urlquote
 from urllib.parse import urlencode, urlparse
 from urllib.request import HTTPRedirectHandler, Request, build_opener, urlopen
+from datetime import datetime
 
 try:
     from . import __version__
@@ -376,6 +377,19 @@ def parse_args(args=None):
         dest="include_releases",
         help="include release information, not including assets or binaries",
     )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--latest-releases",
+        type=int,
+        default=0,
+        dest="number_of_latest_releases",
+        help="include certain number of the latest releases; only applies if including releases",
+    )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--skip-prerelease",
+        action="store_true",
+        dest="skip_prerelease",
+        help="skip prerelease and draft versions; only applies if including releases",
+    )
     parser.add_argument(
         "--assets",
         action="store_true",
@@ -497,7 +511,7 @@ def get_github_host(args):
 
 
 def read_file_contents(file_uri):
-    return open(file_uri[len(FILE_URI_PREFIX) :], "rt").readline().strip()
+    return open(file_uri[len(FILE_URI_PREFIX):], "rt").readline().strip()
 
 
 def get_github_repo_url(args, repository):
@@ -1209,8 +1223,18 @@ def backup_releases(args, repo_cwd, repository, repos_template, include_assets=F
     release_template = "{0}/{1}/releases".format(repos_template, repository_fullname)
     releases = retrieve_data(args, release_template, query_args=query_args)
 
+    if args.skip_prerelease:
+        releases = [r for r in releases if not r["prerelease"] and not r["draft"]]
+
+    if args.number_of_latest_releases and args.number_of_latest_releases < len(releases):
+        releases.sort(key=lambda item: datetime.strptime(item["created_at"], "%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ"),
+                      reverse=True)
+        releases = releases[:args.number_of_latest_releases]
+        logger.info("Saving the latest {0} releases to disk".format(len(releases)))
+    else:
+        logger.info("Saving {0} releases to disk".format(len(releases)))
+
     # for each release, store it
-    logger.info("Saving {0} releases to disk".format(len(releases)))
     for release in releases:
         release_name = release["tag_name"]
         release_name_safe = release_name.replace("/", "__")