Do Books Really Need to Be Published on a Tuesday?
I recently saw someone say, "That books should always be published on Tuesdays." I've seen it before and when you first read it, it sounded like one of those publishing rules that gets repeated often enough that it starts to feel universal. But is it actually universal does every book need to be published on a Tuesday?
As with so many things in publishing, the answer depends on what kind of book you are publishing, how it is being distributed, and what you are hoping the release date will accomplish.
Why Tuesday Became a Publishing Day
In traditional publishing, Tuesday releases can make sense. Major publishers are often coordinating bookstore stocking, media coverage, preorder campaigns, bestseller tracking, warehouse schedules, and launch-week publicity. When a book is being released nationally with a large marketing push, choosing a specific weekday can be part of a much bigger strategy.
That does not mean the same rule matters equally for every author or every press, or even for the same author for a different version of their book.
For example, a highly anticipated hardcover from a major publisher is not being released in the same way as a print-on-demand title from a small press. The goals, timelines, risks, and distribution systems are different.
What Matters More for a Small Press
For a small press using print-on-demand, I think that the day of the week matters much less to me than the bigger questions around availability, proofing, metadata, and timing.
At Little Goodbyes Press, many of our books are evergreen children’s books. Some are tied to seasons and traditions, including books about Samhain, Candlemas, Pascha, Pesach, Yule and other celebrations as part of the Changing Traditions series, some are tied to topics like weaning from breastfeeding in our Little Goodbyes books or even vermicomposting and some are our versions of timeless fables in our Monarch Tales.
For all of our books, I am not mainly worried about whether the publication date falls on a Tuesday. I am much more concerned with whether the book is available when readers, families, libraries, teachers, and homeschool families may actually be looking for it so I focus more on ensuring that our books are on as many distribution channels as possible and in as many languages as we can.
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Evergreen Books Still Have Seasonal Windows
A book about Samhain is not only useful in October. A book about Candlemas is not only useful in winter. These are evergreen books, meant to be read and discovered year after year. But seasonal books still have moments when readers are more likely to be looking for them. Families may search for Halloween books in September or October. Teachers may plan winter lessons before Groundhog Day arrives. Libraries may need time to order, process, and display seasonal titles before the season has already passed.
That is the kind of timing I think about more than the day of the week. Not whether a book comes out on a Tuesday, but whether it has enough time to become findable before readers are most likely to need it.
How I choose publication dates
When I choose a publication date, I am usually thinking about practical questions. Has the proof copy been checked? Are the retailer pages live (or as many as can be)? Are the hardcover, softcover, and ebook editions being released in a sensible order? Is the metadata clear? Are the book description, categories, keywords, and website pages ready?
Those questions are not as neat as “always publish on a Tuesday,” but for a small press, they are often much more useful. I talked about how I plan the different releases in this post.
Not Every Publishing Rule Applies to Every Book
This is one of the tricky parts of indie publishing. There is a lot of advice online, and some of it is good advice but when you look closer, often that advice ends up being for that specific kind of book or series.
Advice that makes sense for a major publisher planning a national release and scheduling that book on a Tuesday may not matter as much for a small press building a backlist. Advice that matters for an author chasing a bestseller list or rapid releasing with ARC teams needing to coordinate may not matter in the same way for an evergreen children’s book. Advice that helps with a big launch-week campaign may not apply to a book that is meant to be discovered steadily over time.
That does not make the advice wrong, it just means context matters and that what is often stated as a fact is really more of a suggestion.
The Better Question - Will I avoid a Tuesday release?
No, of course not.
Will I chase one?
Also no, because for my books, the better question is not “what day of the week should this be published?” The better question is: will readers, libraries, teachers, and families be able to find this book when they need it?
For a small press, building our books with our team, that is the release-date question that matters most.
You can explore all of our current titles on our Books Page.
If you'd like to help share our works, visit our Libraries Page for circulation details and ISBNs.
Our books are available through major retailers including Chapters, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop, and Waterstones.
