How many copies of Harper Lee’s books have been sold?
- Harper Lee’s two published books, To Kill a Mockingbird and Go Set a Watchman, sold over 43 million copies worldwide.
- To Kill a Mockingbird sold over 40 million copies worldwide alone.
- By the 1990s, To Kill a Mockingbird was selling at the pace of over 2 million copies per year, selling over 18 million copies by 1988.
- Even today, Mockingbird sells between 750,000 and 1 million copies every year.
- Go Set a Watchman sold over 1 million copies within 1 week of its release in the US alone, along with over 100,000 copies in the UK.
- It became the fastest-selling book in the history of its publisher (HarperCollins).
- Barnes & Noble reported that it was the highest-selling book on its first day, more than any adult fiction book ever published.
- Harper Lee’s books are translated into over 40 languages.
How much did Harper Lee earn from writing?
- The first printing edition of To Kill a Mockingbird contained 5,000 copies and was selling for $3.95 per book.
- Mockingbird generated $19,700 of income during the sales of the first printing edition.
- Lee was earning over $2.5 million per year in royalties from To Kill a Mockingbird during the 2000s.
- Lee’s earnings from Go Set a Watchman are estimated at $10 million in 2015 alone.
- At the time of her death, Harper Lee’s net worth was estimated at $35 million.
How many books did Harper Lee write?
- Harper Lee published only 2 books in her lifetime, To Kill a Mockingbird (1960) and Go Set a Watchman (2015).
- Even though it was published 55 years after the Mockingbird, Go Set a Watchman was actually written before it.
- In total, Harper lee published 559 pages or 140,000 words.
| Title | Published | Page Count | Audiobook Length |
| To Kill a Mockingbird | July 11, 1960 | 281 (first edition) | 12 hrs 17 min |
| Go Set a Watchman | July 14, 2015 | 278 | 6 hrs 57 min |
Harper Lee wrote one of the most celebrated novels in the English language, a reminder that the right words in the right order can change minds. WordsRated publishes daily hints for today’s Connections and today’s Wordle, and our Word Finder helps you find the best word from any set of letters. For fans of NYT Strands, the Strands Archive has every past puzzle answer.
Harper Lee’s novel adaptations
- To Kill a Mockingbird was adapted into a movie in 1962, which was nominated for the Academy Award.
- The movie grossed $13,129,846 worldwide, with an additional income of $5,565,851 in video sales and streaming.
- To Kill a Mockingbird was also adapted into a Broadway play in 2018 by Aaron Sorkin.
- The play became the highest-grossing American play ever, grossing $2,018,314 only during week 4.
- In total, the play grossed over $58 million, including $22 million in advance sales.