Harper Lee was widely considered a success as a writer in 1960–1961, when her debut novel To Kill a Mockingbird became a bestseller and then won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1961.

Early steps toward success

Even before fame, Lee had begun to live as a working writer in the late 1950s, after friends in New York gave her enough money at Christmas 1956 to quit her airline reservation job for a year and write full‑time. That gift allowed her to complete the manuscript that led to a publishing contract with J.B. Lippincott.

Breakthrough: 1960–1961

  • To Kill a Mockingbird was published in July 1960 and was an “instant critical and commercial success,” selected by the Book of the Month Club and the Literary Guild.
  • In 1961, the novel won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, firmly establishing Lee’s reputation as a major American author.

From this point on, both critics and the general public regarded her as a fully successful writer, not just an emerging talent.

Long-term literary success

Over the decades that followed, To Kill a Mockingbird sold tens of millions of copies worldwide, was translated into more than 40 languages, and became a staple of school curricula, reinforcing Lee’s standing as one of the key voices in 20th‑century American literature. Even though she published very little after that, this single novel was enough to secure her lasting literary success and legacy.

TL;DR: Harper Lee truly became “a success as a writer” when To Kill a Mockingbird turned into a major bestseller in 1960 and then won the Pulitzer Prize in 1961, giving her both popular and critical recognition that has endured for generations.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.