I would never claim, that books have to be 'Popular,' when they first come out.
[I have never read these books.]
There is many reasons why that can happen, [Political= Bible] [Objective of the book=Satanic Text.] [Content in the book= Extremist viewpoints.]
A good example might be if someone made a book in the 1850s, about the pros and cons of slavery. This book might not have become popular until freeing slaves became a topic in politics.
But overall, unless your book is meant to changes peoples mind about something, or control a certain type of people/person.
I would say that the lack of being popular is an issue.