Utah’s own Eli McCann is officially a New York Times bestselling author.

McCann, a humor columnist for The Salt Lake Tribune, released his debut novel “Stitched” last week. The “uniquely Utah” story follows a group of elderly quilters in Ogden.

“Stitched” came in at No. 5 on the paperback trade fiction list, alongside books like “Theo of Golden” and “Dungeon Crawler Carl.”

In a written statement, McCann said he is thrilled about the news, especially because of how hard he fought to keep his story true to how he envisioned it.

“It was so hard to get this book published because I was told it wasn’t clear there would be a market for a book about older women quilting in Utah,” McCann wrote. “It turns out there is, and that market is large and spread out across the country.”

McCann previously spoke to The Tribune about his journey to getting the book published, how publishers pushed for a variety of changes, until finally Utah’s own Torrey House Press picked his novel up and loved it.

“I’m so grateful to Torrey House Press for seeing the vision and helping me breathe life into this book, and to everyone who has supported me and this silly little story along the way. It truly feels like I’m living a dream,” McCann wrote.

“Stitched” is also a USA Today bestseller.