Sutton did not immediately turn to writing after the war, but worked in a number of jobs, including as an assistant to San Diego Mayor Harley Knox.
He then worked in editorial public relations for General Dynamics, an experience he used when writing his novel The Missile Lords a few years later.
As a human factors engineer working for Convair, he explored man's adaptation to machines and established his business as an editorial consultant to industry.
Throughout his writing career he remained a free-lance editorial consultant to aerospace industries and published articles in related professional magazines.
As a writer, he focused on subjects related to his earlier work – space, astronautics, war, newspapers – and on science fiction.