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Those involved in the publication of Harper Lee鈥檚 upcoming second book, 鈥淕o Set a Watchman,鈥� have revealed more information about the process of getting the book to readers. 鈥淲atchman鈥� itself is already a top seller, months before publication.

鈥淲atchman,鈥� which will reportedly feature an adult version of 鈥�To Kill a Mockingbird鈥� protagonist Scout, will be released this July and is already the top seller on both Amazon and Barnes & Noble.聽

In a statement released by her publisher HarperCollins, Lee said of 鈥淲atchman鈥�: 鈥淚n the mid-1950s, I completed a novel called Go Set a Watchman. It features the character known as Scout as an adult woman and I thought it a pretty decent effort. My editor, who was taken by the flashbacks to Scout's childhood, persuaded me to write a novel from the point of view of the young Scout. I was a first-time writer, so I did as I was told. I hadn't realized it had survived, so was surprised and delighted when my dear friend and lawyer Tonja Carter discovered it. After much thought and hesitation I shared it with a handful of people I trust and was pleased to hear that they considered it worthy of publication.鈥澛�

But at least one person who says she was close to Harper Lee has raised questions about the decision to publish the book.

Author Marja Mills, whose book 鈥淭he Mockingbird Next Door鈥� detailed her friendship with Lee and Lee鈥檚 sister Alice, has said that Lee told her clearly that she had decided long ago never to publish another book.

That doesn't mean, Mills agrees, that there was not another manuscript, either partial or complete. Mills told the Monitor in a recent interview, 鈥淣elle Harper and I both talked about the revisions and years that went into revising and reshaping what Nelle was writing into what became 'To Kill a Mockingbird.' So I think it鈥檚 likely that there certainly were earlier chapters she had written or just earlier pages and versions done well before 'To Kill a Mocking Bird' became 'To Kill a Mockingbird'鈥�. She certainly wrote a lot before 'To Kill a Mockingbird' was ever published so I don鈥檛 know."

But, adds Miller, "I have some concerns about the timing" of the decision to publish the book. In "The Mockingbird Next Door," Mills writes that Lee told her definitively that she had said all that she needed to say in "To Kill a Mockingbird" and that there would be no other book.聽 聽

Lee鈥檚 sister Alice, an attorney, who according to Mills, took charge of much of Harper Lee's business, died this past November.

Before she died, however, Alice Lee become involved in a controversy about Mills's book. After "The Mockingbird Next Door" was published, Harper Lee's lawyer Tonja Carter released a statement said to be from Harper Lee saying that Harper Lee had never cooperated with Mills's book. But Alice Lee publicly disagreed, releasing her own saying that, "In light of recent events, I am writing to reaffirm my and my sister Harper Lee's support of, and cooperation with, Marja Mills's forthcoming memoir,聽The Mockingbird Next Door.聽The letter signed by Harper Lee and sent on April 27 via the Barnett, Bugg, Lee & Carter [attorneys for Harper Lee] email address was sent without my knowledge and does not represent my feelings or those of my sister."

According to , "Mockingbird Next Door" author Mills a letter she received from Alice Lee about Lee's original statement. "Imagine my shock when I began to read and get clear about the statement sent from BBL & Carter's office," the letter read. "I had made no statement and could not [see] how that would get started. When I questioned Tonja [Carter] I learned that without my knowledge she had typed out the statement, carried it to The Meadows [where Harper Lee lives] and had Nelle Harper [family name for Harper Lee] sign it."

Lee's statement continued with a line that some find alarming in the lights of the announcement about the new book. "Poor Nelle Harper can't see and can't hear and will sign anything put before her by any one in whom she has confidence," wrote Alice Lee. "Now she has no memory of the incident."

According to Lee鈥檚 editor Hugh Van Dusen, it was Carter, Lee鈥檚 lawyer, who found the new manuscript.聽

鈥淭he version I was told was that the book was in either a safe deposit box or a bank vault, and it was wrapped in a manuscript of聽To Kill a Mockingbird聽and nobody noticed it for all these years,鈥� he said in an interview with . 鈥淗er lawyer, Tonja Carter, who is also Nelle's very close friend, was apparently looking through this safety deposit box and found [鈥楪o Set a Watchman鈥橾. I guess she then went to her friend [and] said,聽what it is this?鈥澛�

As for any direct communications with Harper Lee, Van Dusen said that he 鈥淸doesn鈥檛] think [publishing staff speak with Lee directly], only because she鈥檚 very deaf and going blind,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o it鈥檚 difficult to give her a phone call, you know? I think we do all our dealing through her lawyer, Tonja. It鈥檚 easier for the lawyer to go see her in the nursing home and say聽HarperCollins would like to do this and do that聽and get her permission. That鈥檚 the only reason nobody鈥檚 in touch with her. I鈥檓 told it鈥檚 very difficult to talk to her鈥�. was she unwilling to have it published? No, no, no, no. We would never do that. She鈥檚 too valuable an author to fool around with that way. It would never happen. We wouldn鈥檛 dare do that.鈥�

Lee's agent Andrew Nurnberg said he recently saw her in January. "[Lee]聽was genuinely surprised by the discovery of the manuscript," he told the . "She didn鈥檛 think it was around anymore and had put it out of her mind."

Jonathan Burnham, senior vice president and publisher of Harper, provided more details about the manuscript itself to NBC.

鈥淵ou can see that it is written on a manual typewriter from the period,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t has on the front of it the address where Harper Lee was living at the time in New York. But if you read the book, more importantly, only Harper Lee could have written this novel.鈥�