Richard Paul Evans

About

Richard Paul Evans (born October 11, 1962) is an American author, best known for writing The Christmas Box and, more recently, the Michael Vey series.

Evans graduated from Cottonwood High School in Murray City, Utah. He graduated with a B.A. degree from the University of Utah in 1984.
While working as an advertising executive he wrote a Christmas story for his children. Unable to find a publisher or an agent, he self-published the work in 1993 as a paperback novella entitled The Christmas Box. He distributed it to bookstores in his community. The book became a local bestseller, prompting Evans to publish the book in this region.
The next year The Christmas Box hit #2 on The New York Times Best Seller list, inciting an auction for the publishing rights among the world’s top publishing houses. Evans signed a publishing deal with Simon & Schuster, who paid him $4.2 million in an advance.
Released in hardcover in 1995, The Christmas Box became the first book to simultaneously reach the number-one position on the New York Times bestseller list for both paperback and hardcover editions. That same year, the book was made into a television movie of the same title, starring…