New books almost always pub on Tuesday. But why?

Of all the anonymous days of the week, Tuesday is the most anonymous. It’s not the beginning of a long, dreary week, nor is it the end. It’s not yet hump day, seldom payday, rarely a holiday.

Still, books have pubbed on Tuesdays for as long as I’ve been in this job ­— eight years already! — and for years before that. Even if they have the books in stock, booksellers are not supposed to sell books before pub date.

I have never known why. So I asked. I asked a lot of people — publishers, publicists, editors, distributors, writers for trade journals. As it turns out, nobody knows, not really. It’s all guesses.

The consensus seems to be that it comes down to three things: ease of distribution, a level playing field for booksellers and a better shot at the bestseller list.

“As far as I have known, it’s always been done this way for shipping,” said Todd Doughty, vice president and executive director of publicity for Doubleday. “A Tuesday on-sale date allows our warehouse to ship to the West Coast with plenty of buffer time in order for the books to arrive prior to on-sale … so that all accounts receive equal treatment.”

Nicholas Latimer of Alfred A. Knopf thought it had to do with The List: “Having the ability to equally distribute a large number of books across the country on the same day allows stores to begin selling big books