Mark Phillips is an author, guitarist, arranger, editor, and publisher with more than 40 years in the music publishing field. He earned his bachelor's degree in music theory from Case Western Reserve University, where he received the Carolyn Neff Award for scholastic excellence, and his master's degree in music theory from Northwestern University, where he was elected to Pi Kappa Lambda, the most prestigious U.S. honor society for college and university music students. While working toward a doctorate in music theory at Northwestern, Phillips taught classes in theory, ear-training, sight-singing, counterpoint, and guitar.

During the 1970s and early '80s, Phillips was Director of Popular Music at Warner Bros. Publications, where he edited and arranged the songbooks of such artists as Neil Young, James Taylor, the Eagles, and Led Zeppelin. From 1985 to 2013 he was Director of Music and Director of Publications at Cherry Lane Music, where he edited or arranged the songbooks of such artists as John Denver, Van Halen, Guns N' Roses, and Metallica, and served as Music Editor of the magazines Guitar and Guitar One.

Phillips is the author of several books on musical subjects, including Guitar for Dummies, Metallica Riff by Riff, Sight-Sing Any Melody Instantly, and Sight-Read Any Rhythm Instantly. In his non-musical life, Phillips is the author/publisher of a series of "fun" high school textbooks, including The Wizard of Oz Vocabulary Builder, The Pinocchio Intermediate Vocabulary Builder, Tarzan and Jane's Guide to Grammar, and Conversations in Early American History: 1492-1837.

Phillips' own publishing company, A. J. Cornell Publications, was named in honor of, and publishes selected works by two favorite early 20th century authors, A. J. Cronin and Cornell Woolrich. A. J. Cornell Publications also publishes numerous Kindle editions of books on a variety of subjects, including history, biography, literature, mythology, science, and mathematics.

For the reference value of his numerous publications, Phillips is profiled in Who's Who in America.