Editing The Hunt for Red October (section)

==Reception==
===Critical===
The book received critical acclaim, especially from the American government. U.S. President [[Ronald Reagan]] had pronounced the book, which was given to him as a Christmas gift, as "the perfect yarn" and "unputdownable"; his endorsement eventually boosted the novel's sales and solidified Clancy's reputation as a bestselling author.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.moria.co.nz/sf/redoctober.htm |title=The Hunt for Red October |access-date=2005-11-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040609104403/http://www.moria.co.nz/sf/redoctober.htm |archive-date=June 9, 2004 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/07/27/books/virtuous-men-and-perfect-weapons.html?&pagewanted=all |title=VIRTUOUS MEN AND PERFECT WEAPONS |date=27 July 1986 |author=Robert Lekachman |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] }}</ref> Regarding the reception, Clancy remarked: "I was thunderstruck, dumbfounded, bowled over, amazed. But I wasn't surprised."<ref>{{cite web | last=Mutter | first=John | title=PW Interviews Tom Clancy | website=PublishersWeekly.com | date=1986-08-08 | url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/authors/interviews/article/59383-pw-interviews-tom-clancy.html | access-date=2021-01-30}}</ref> Many members of the [[White House]] were fans of the book.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Merry |first1=Ronald W. |title=Tom Clancy and Ronald Reagan |url=https://nationalinterest.org/commentary/tom-clancy-ronald-reagan-9178 |website=The National Interest |date=October 3, 2013 |access-date=3 August 2018}}</ref>

''The Hunt for Red October'' was also popular among the military. On a 1985 visit to {{USS|Hyman G. Rickover|SSN-709|6}}, Clancy discovered 26 copies of the novel among the crew.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/08/12/books/author-of-red-october-stirs-up-a-red-storm.html|title=AUTHOR OF 'RED OCTOBER' STIRS UP A 'RED STORM' (Published 1986)|first=Edwin |last=McDowell|date=August 12, 1986|newspaper=NYTimes.com}}</ref> ''[[The Washington Post]]'', in its original review, praised the novel as "the most satisfactory novel of a sea chase since [[C.S. Forester]] perfected the form."<ref>{{cite news |title='The Hunt for Red October': The Washington Post's original review from 1984 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/the-hunt-for-red-october-the-washington-postsoriginal-review-from-1984/2013/10/02/7f7292d6-2b76-11e3-97a3-ff2758228523_story.html?noredirect=on |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=3 August 2018}}</ref>

===Commercial===
Due to an extensive marketing campaign by the Naval Institute Press for their first published work of fiction, which was initially aimed at the military, the book sold 45,000 copies by March 1985. Clancy said in a 1991 interview: "I thought we'd sell maybe five thousand or ten thousand hardcovers and that would be the end of it. I never really thought about making money."<ref>{{cite book |title=The Tom Clancy Companion |page=53 |edition=Revised}}</ref>

After Reagan's endorsement, ''The Hunt for Red October'' topped the national bestseller lists, particularly ''[[The New York Times]]''. It eventually sold more than 365,000 copies in hardcover. After securing the paperback rights to [[Berkley Books]] for $49,500, the novel sold another 4.3 million copies.<ref>{{cite news |date=1988-05-01 |last=Anderson |first=Patrick |title=KING OF THE 'TECHNO-THRILLER' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/05/01/magazine/king-of-the-techno-thriller.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=3 August 2018 }}</ref>