In a 2002 interview with David Carroll and Kyla Ward, author/publisher Richard Harland records that the press known as Karl Evans is, in fact, two separate and distinct business entities. The first Karl Evans was established by as yet unidentified literature enthusiast in Balmain, Sydney, in the early 1980s. Its only known publication was Harland's Testimony (1981). Sometime around 1992/1993, Harland contacted the publisher to enquire about the possibility of having his first novel, The Vicar of Morbing Vyle, also released by the press, but discovered that it was no longer operating. After being offered the rights to the name, Harland published the novel himself, using the slightly altered company trade name Karl Evans Publishing.
Karl Evans Publishing was set up in Wollongong while Harland was lecturing and undertaking his Ph.D.