Market Research

I've been looking into the books in this genre that are selling well, and the popular books, the ones with strong sales and lots of reviews and attention (regardless of the qaulity of the writing and research) are all ones covering more topical subject matter: ISIS, Middle East, Korea etc. 

Which makes sense and is consistent with my own limited experience doing this. My second book, Viper, which is about Colombia and FARC, has been selling abysmally, especially compared to Scorpion, which was more relevant, dealing with Afghanistan, the Taliban, and nuclear proliferation. In fact, Viper sales really only picked up last year during the time the Colombian peace talks and FARC disarmament were topics in the news.

So, we shall see how well Scorpion II does, since it covers Ukraine, which is somewhat topical these days, at least to those who follow world events, and also Georgia (the country), which I fear might leave a lot of people scratching their heads and wondering why the heck they should care about Georgia.

Of course, this isn't really an issue once you have a large audience and your primary character has a fan base. If Mitch Rapp goes to Colombia next year, it's still going to be an instant best seller.

As a reader and a writer, I'm always interested in stories that cover more obscure/fresh locations and subject matter rather than the same old terrorist plots, but from a marketing standpoint, trying to appeal to the largest audience possible, that might not have been a wise approach, especially for my first few books, before I've established a wider audience. 

I'd be very curious to hear readers' opinions on this and your thought process when it comes to deciding to try a new author or book, so please leave a quick comment below.

On a final note, one of the two books I'm currently writing will cover ISIS and the ongoing "cold war" between the Gulf Arab states and Iran. Not entirely because I'm seeking to boost sales, but because I feel it's time to cover the Middle East and my story has a slightly different take on things.  I'll post more details here as the project advances.