For six decades, Motorbooks has been the go-to authority on transportation, creating books on motorcycles, cars, and motorsports at large. Now, on the eve of the imprint's 60th birthday, we spoke to publisher Zack Miller about branching out into new categories, what makes for a beautifully-designed book, and the key to publishing longevity.

Can you share the Motorbooks origin story?

Motorbooks was founded by Tom Warth, an English expat car enthusiast who found the selection of motoring books in the U.S. rather lacking compared to England. He launched Motorbooks International out of his Minneapolis, Minn., garage (of course) in 1965. Initially, Motorbooks was a mail-order seller of transportation and motorsports books that Warth brought in from the UK and Europe. In the latter 1970s, it began to do book publishing of its own with that part of the business continuing to grow steadily from the 1980s.

The world of motorized vehicles is a broad one. How do new potential projects land on your radar?

Many of our publishing ideas are generated internally by Motorbooks editorial staff. We also receive unsolicited ideas as well as agented projects.

You've had many licensing partnerships–NASCAR, Harley-Davidson, Chevrolet, Ford, etc. How have these partnerships helped to shape your library of titles?

Working with official partners can provide access to information, background stories, staff interviews, and historical imagery that could otherwise be challenging to access. In some instances, it allows us to tell a story either more deeply or gives us the opportunity to delve into an aspect of a manufacturer’s history that might otherwise not be known.

How has Motorbooks expanded its offerings in recent years?

When you’re publishing to enthusiasts you need to follow their interests. The car and motorcycle hobbies are ever evolving with younger enthusiasts joining and bringing their interests to bear while other aspects of the hobby slow as interest declines. The recent growth of Formula 1 interest in the U.S. has allowed us to publish more around that sport and expanded that potential market.

We’ve also added illustrated music histories to our subject remit with books about bands and artists as well as music culture.

Now in your 60th year, what new opportunities are on your radar? And how are you celebrating your legacy?

We’re excited about our music program and its rapid growth as well as a reinvigorated and broadened motorsports list. Additionally, we’re adding narrative books to our illustrated offerings which allow us to do more with e-book and audio publishing.

We’re a low-key publisher in many ways, focused primarily on book creation and serving our enthusiast audience. We’ve highlighted our 60th in our marketing as well as in podcast appearances, and we’ve run special sales throughout the year. I think our main celebration is our focus on future programs and more great books!

Many of your titles feature stellar photography and striking layouts. Can you talk about the work that goes into art and design?

Thanks for noting our design work. It starts with our content which is down to experienced authors as well as the critical eye of Motorbooks’ editorial staff. We’re helped by long-standing relationships with top photographers who’ve followed the hobby for years as well as a few key specialist stock houses and collections. Motorbooks works with the design staff based in Quarto’s Beverly, MA, office and nearly all the design credit goes to those talented art directors. It’s a very collaborative process between authors, editorial, and design but no matter what we hand over to our design group they return something that consistently outshines our expectations. Truly.

How are you connecting with younger generations of readers?

Mostly by adding tuning our publishing list to add later model cars and motorcycles as well as more F1 and motorsports publishing. On the music side we’re expanding the genres and artists we’re covering and seeking to connect with online and media outlets focused on more contemporary music.

From your perspective, what accounts for Motorbooks' longevity?

Motorbooks has always been fortunate to have editorial staff who are enthusiasts and subject experts themselves. It helps us focus on what hobbyists expect from our books as well as understand the direction interests are headed. Motorbooks has also had ownership, especially under Quarto, who were supportive of our focus and have the sales and marketing breadth and expertise to help us reach our audience. Additionally, car, motorcycle, and motorsport enthusiasts are among the most focused and dedicated hobbyists you can imagine. As long as our books help scratch their itch, we’ll be in great shape.