First person present writing will never get popular with the writers, it’s too difficult and counter intuitive. Series that use it have been popular with readers before, but because so few writers are comfortable with it it never takes off.
Like David Copperfield?
See, as a reader/writer myself I disagree. As a writer I can use first person present tense to get a cheap emotional connection that the story or writing don't justify. It bring an immediacy to the story. It's a crutch for a poor story or characters that wouldn't keep my attention.
As a reader it drives me absolutely bonkers - except when it's done incredibly well. I can think of one present tense book I've read in the last ten years that worked, and it worked so well I didn't even realize it was present tense for the first twenty pages, the writing was that good.
It's moot to me, the sort of stories I want to tell need the distance that past tense (and usually third person limited view) can give. But if the new hot thing turns out to be, oh, present tense second person omniscient, I'm out of here.