The Author Continuum

We could give an infant a bicycle, but it's pretty certain that she will not be able to ride it. We can hand a third grader Shakespeare, and he will in all likelihood fail to appreciate it. Both need time, experience, and maturity to be able to perform the task, no matter how willing they might be. The same is true for authors and publishing. There is a learning curve that must be traveled, and there aren't many shortcuts.
When I started in the business, I read everything I could find: agent advice, author blogs, publishers' recommendations, reader complaints, whatever. The problem is, I couldn't always absorb it. The mind comprehends, but it doesn't internalize until it has experienced some part of what it studies.
There's the vocabulary, which at times scares the newcomer. What is selling through, and why does it matter to me? Later, one understands the words but has yet to experience the process. And of course, the process keeps changing. Add to that that no one really knows WHY books sell. If even the experts don't know, what chance does a beginner have of grasping the rules and making them work for her?
Some love digging into the business end of things, and they probably move along the continuum more rapidly than those who really would rather not think about it. I suppose the latter group is likely to hire help as soon as that is a financial possibility. If help can't be hired, we muddle along, understanding what we have to, moving along the path like snails on a stone.
That third grader may not understand Shakespeare until much later, but he'll grasp what he can along the way.