Need some hard-hitting facts for a pitch document or to convince a client that books are a great incentive item? Several research companies specialise in running focus groups and omnibus surveys for the publishing industry. So, let us know what's needed and we'll see what can be made available. Here are a few book facts for starters...

UK consumers bought some 330m books in 2009, worth £2.3bn.

The overall market, including academic, professsional and school books, was £3.5bn.

Children’s books accounted for 25% of volume sales and 17% by value (consumer). Growth of 5% was largely generated by Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series and picture books.

133,000 new titles were published in 2009 – an all-time record – and partly fuelled by new areas such as print-on-demand and digital product.

Stephenie Meyer’s New Moon was the 2009 bestseller, closely followed by Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol.

ABC1s accounted for 56% of sales turnover. However, the growth sector continues to be the C2Ds, who now account for 40% of sales.

57% of C2D women now buy books; they bought 25% more books in 2009 compared to 2005.

59% of adults and 70% of children claim to read a book at least once a week.

Women are the main purchasers of children's books – accounting for 4 out of every 5 books bought.

60% of consumer book purchases are made by women. However, a large number of these purchases are books bought for children. When these are excluded, purchases split 52% women, 48% men.

Those aged 60 + account for 40% of consumer book purchases – up from 30% in 2005.

Supermarkets and the internet account for a third of all consumer purchases – up from only 6% in 1997. Bookshops account for a further third, with stationers (such as WHS), bargain book shops and direct sale making up the final third.

Thrillers and crime novels outsell romantic novels 6:1.

The world's No 1 fiction author is Agatha Christie. Her crime novels have sold an estimated 2 billion copies.

The bestseller of all time (excluding non-copyright titles) is The Guinness Book of Records - now retitled Guinness World Records. The book was first published in 1955. Sales exceed 90 million copies.

Want the lowdown on what UK adults and children were buying and reading last week? Then visit the Nielsen BookScan Website for a list of the Hot 100 and other bestseller lists.

Each week BookScan collects data on some 140,000 different titles from over 6,000 retailers. The data is coded and analysed, providing complete market information for retailers, publishers, libraries, agents and the media - and all within 72 hours of the week ending Saturday.

Book Marketing Ltd's knowledge of the book market is unparalleled. The company offers a complete range of quantitative and qualitative research services, from large-scale fully structured surveys to focus groups and individual customer interviews. BML's flagship survey, Books and the Consumer, has been running since 1989 and provides detailed information on buying habits. It's based on a TNS panel of 15,000 individuals aged 12-74.