The Professional's Guide to Publishingis a practical introduction to working in the publishing industry. The authors provide an overview of its many functions, including editorial, production, sales and marketing, ensuring that the reader has a firm understanding of each department's responsibilities and how they work cross-functionally. They also examine current and enduring trends in publishing including networking, supply chains and e-publishing.

Gill Davies worked for 26 years as an academic publisher and became the leading publisher in her field. She worked internationally, including in New York, and chaired the Council for Academic and Professional Publishing of the Publishers Association. She is Emeritus Professor of Publishing at the University of the Arts London where she was Course Director of the MA in Book publishing for five years. She has been an independent trainer for the publishing industry for over 15 years and is the author of the highly successful book Commissioning and Acquisition. Richard Balkwill set up Copytrain in 1992, offering training and copyright consultancies to publishers, as well as undertaking writing commissions. This followed 25 years as an editor and publisher in educational, academic and children's publishing. With widespread international training and teaching experience, he has also taught at Oxford Brookes and City University, and works for both UNESCO and WIPO on issues relating to copyright and intellectual property protection in the publishing and digital fields. He is also author of 12 books on subjects as diverse as copyright and railways.