Dutton publisher Carole Baron and editor Laurie Chittenden paid what was reported to be several million dollars for two new novels by Richard Paul Evans, author of The Christmas Box and several sentimental sequels that were huge bestsellers for S&S. It was a world rights deal, signed with agent Laurie Liss, now at Sterling Lord Literistic, who first discovered Evans and originally sold him to Chittenden at S&S. The first book in the new deal will be The Last Promise, due in hardcover in November.