Oh, those UK publishers. They can't decide what the best day of the week to launch a book is. Once it was Mondays; sometimes it's Tuesdays. Other times it's whenever they damn well feel like. But, it seems, many have agreed that Thursday is the best day of all, as Publishing News discovers.

Ian Hudson, co-chair of the Liaison Group and Group Deputy CEO at Random House, told PN: "It's a different approach from publishing selected titles on a Monday. The idea is to establish Thursday as a recognised day when all new books are published. It would achieve a lot of the benefits of last year's launch date initiative without a lot of the additional costs."

The move meets with Tesco & Asda's approval, and having the supermarkets on board is a very, very good thing. "It makes sense for us to stock new books on a Thursday, as the industry is moving towards that day anyway," said an Asda spokesman. "It also is more convenient for customers, as before, if a book came out on Thursday, they would not be able to buy it from us until the Monday."