Quarto Books, the company that took its name from having four founding partners, will be celebrating its four decades in publishing today at BEA with the appearance of its Bookmobile, QuartoKnows, at the show for the first time right in its booth (2300). The festivities continue with a performance by Kenny Loggins at 1 p.m. to celebrate the launch of Quarto’s imprint MoonDance, which will publish the Grammy-winning artist’s rewritten version of Footloose for young children in October. (See page 24 for an interview with Kenny Loggins.)

In 1976, Quarto came into being when a writer/designer duo living in London found two New York academics interested in making illustrated book publishing work on an international scale. Even though one of the academics ultimately passed on the opportunity, the name Quarto stuck, and the remaining partners created a global company. Long before desktop publishing brought down the cost of producing illustrated books, they nurtured relationships with printers in Hong Kong, making the company a perfect fit for publishers who had content they wanted to copublish with Quarto, to benefit from the economies of scale of larger print runs. As Ken Fund, its current publisher, says, over the years Quarto moved away from copublishing books with other companies and instead expanded its own publishing program, adding imprints and acquiring other publishers along the way.

“People don’t know the breadth of our publishing programs,” Fund says. Just climbing aboard Quarto’s converted library bookmobile, he adds, would be a good way for BEA attendees to get an idea of Quarto in the 21st century.

The QuartoKnows Bookmobile is a moving showcase of the 10 areas of publishing the company excels in across its imprints: QuartoKids, QuartoCreates, QuartoCooks, QuartoHomes, QuartoLives, QuartoDrives, QuartoExplores, QuartoPlays, QuartoGifts, and QuartoThinks. At least as part of its BEA plan, QuartoDrinks, too, because attendees are invited to grab some champagne while boarding the bookmobile and join a tasting for the publication of Bourbon Curious: A Simple Tasting Guide for the Savvy Drinker

Quarto is known as an enthusiasts’ publisher because its 21 imprints publish books that appeal to avid readers on a topic—Motorbooks (cars), Rockport Publishers (art and design), Voyageur (Americana and military history), and Walter Foster and Walter Foster Jr. (art instruction). When Quarto unveils the third installment of its Color-Me-to-Sleep at BEA, it will have shipped more than two million copies in the line. Quarto’s nonfiction illustrated children’s publishing program has seen substantial growth, from a $10 million business two years ago to about $30 million today, and, Fund says, a feasible projection of $70 million.

“We publish into an enthusiasts’ marketplace,” he says, “but at the end of the day, I look at all readers as enthusiasts, as a specialty group—people who read, and read frequently.”

This article appeared in the May 12, 2016 edition of PW BEA Show Daily.