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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/36811
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

What is hot today will likely not be hot when you're done writing/revising/securing an agent/editing and then get published. Writing a book and polishing it (for experienced writers) takes about a year in the average-best-case. Securing an agent takes months to years. Once you've got an agent, securing a publisher can take months/years. Once you get published, you're in a queue that can take months/years. All in all, it's probably going to be 5 years between you writing anything and hitting the market. What was popular 5 years ago? Is it popular now? Will it be popular in the future? No one can answer the questions for the future, but its easy to see that markets shift quite a bit. Depending on who you talk to post-apocalyptic is either dead or it isn't; which isn't a great sign for the next few years for that genre.

It's advisable write what you enjoy writing, that you suspect can have mass appeal; but you likely don't want to chase the market as you will be behind on it, it will move, or it will be over-saturated with others trying to chase it.

Should is such a strong word; it makes it seem like there's a correct answer, but there isn't. Do what makes you happy and what you think will lead to success. Most of all do it well because people appreciate masters of their crafts no matter whether the subject matter is "in" or not. Do it well enough and you can make a new "in".

Original score: 7