Note this is advice I wish I had given myself when I was hoping to go the traditional publishing route. I hear that for self-publishing series are desired and have a better chance of selling.
With the prevalence of IP in this day and age, I think first time writers are lulled into the sense that is what publishers and readers want, a spanning epic of ten books that follows the same characters and results in world-changing decisions. Although a good IP is more lucrative than a single novel that sells okay and doesn’t have a sequel, publishers may not be looking to sign a series from an unestablished author.
The problem with writing a series as opposed to a stand-alone novel is it takes a lot more time. The first novel may lack that satisfying conclusion to wow the reader because you’re setting things up for book two, three, four, etc. But the hardest thing is since it’s your first novel, you’re going to fall in love with those characters. Then when that first book doesn’t get picked up, you’re left with the decision to either self-publish or put the series in the desk drawer.
If you look at Brandon Sanderson, an extremely prolific writer that does a lot of series, his first published novel wasn’t any of his series. He cut his teeth on a standalone novel that continues to sell well decades after its publication. He was shopping his Mistborn series at the same time as his standalone story, and it was picked up before Mistborn.
When I give this advice, I think of my sister who has spent the last ten years writing an epic series that is now on book eight or something right now. She eventually plans to seek publication, but if that first book never gets picked up, where does that leave the other seven? If she had written that first book with a series in mind, then moved on to write two or three other novels that were stand-alone novels or the beginning of other series, she could start sending that first novel out for queries while she works on getting other novels ready for the pipeline.
I wish I had written my first book with series potential in mind, then moved on to put some of the other great ideas I have for world-building and stories on paper. While I was waiting for editorial feedback, and sending out queries, I could have been working on other books. I might have had a pipeline of two or three books ready to be queried each year. Instead, I have the first book of my series self-published and hoping that I can get enough readers to continue writing.
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