The novel was Sparks' first published novel, and the third written after The Passing of Wind and The Royal Murders, which were never published. It was written over a period of six months in 1994. Literary agent Theresa Park discovered Sparks after picking the book out of her agency's slush pile. Park liked it and offered to represent him. In October 1995, Park secured a $1 million advance for it from Time Warner Book Group, and the novel was published in October 1996. It was on the New York Times best-seller list in its first week of release. The Notebook spent over a year as a hardcover best seller.

Nicholas Sparks is the author of the #1 New York Times bestsellers THE RESCUE and NIGHTS IN RODANTHE, as well as THE NOTEBOOK, MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE, A WALK TO REMEMBER, A BEND IN THE ROAD, THE GUARDIAN, THE WEDDING, and his moving memoir, THREE WEEKS WITH MY BROTHER, written with his brother, Micah. All his books were New York Times and international bestsellers translated into more than thirty languages, and MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE, A WALK TO REMEMBER, and THE NOTEBOOK were adapted into major motion pictures. Nicholas Sparks lives in North Carolina with his wife and family.

Nicholas Sparks 是當今美國文壇最擅長說故事的人之一，多部小說都已改編成電影，最為耳熟能詳的作品有《The Notebook 手札情緣》、《Message in a Bottle 瓶中信》等，他擅長描寫平凡人生中不平凡的愛情，其中《手札情緣》一上市更被視為「真愛不朽」的最佳見證。他的小說人物通常簡單，不過其中的感情卻都能讓讀者感同身受，因此一出版就會立刻登上暢銷書榜。最新力作《Dear John》空降New York Times文學類排行榜冠軍，擠下Mitch Albom《For One More Day》及Stephen King《Lisey's Story》，並同時榮登Publisher's Weekly、The Washington Post、Barnes & Noble、Amazon.com…各大排行榜首位。