I finally realize that I need to actually /learn/ how to do direct sales.

go on reddit and join this www.reddit.com/r/sales/. There is a cold calling/sales group that works together doing practice calls. You can't really learn without doing it. Save yourself the 2 months reading and just join the group (its free). Here is the link to get in on the practice. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdqI6aT5iLWx9LoKMocWc2Nhsk8Vv207W5aKA1L8RQI2PSB5g/viewform

I'm self-promoting here, but I still think it's the right answer.

I went through this transition myself (coder to leading enterprise sales) and it was super fuckin' tough. I read everything I could and took a lot of hard knocks trying to do it as best I could, but it still took me ages to start performing at even a "passably mediocre" level (eventually got to where I was happily selling to folks like Sony, MTV, the BBC, universities, and governments). My issue with most books/blogs was that they were written for folks who already knew a lot about sales and had a bunch of "assumed knowledge" which I was missing. Once I figured out how it all worked, I wrote it up in The Mom Test book[1] (how to talk to customers and figure out if your business is a good idea when everyone is lying to you).

It's ostensibly about customer development, but it turns out that the foundation of sales is about learning how to ask good questions and figure out what they care about doing, and why they haven't done it already, or why they're still trying to do it better. There's a super blurry line between "learning" and "selling", and most people try to pitch too hard, too soon, before they've learned enough about the person they're talking to.

Another great book is SPIN Selling by Rackham[2], which does a good job obliterating the myth of the "pushy sales guy". This is probably the only book I read about sales which actually helped me, as a technical person.

[1] http://momtestbook.com ← (my book, self-promotion alert)
[2] https://www.amazon.com/SPIN-Selling-Neil-Rackham/dp/0070511136

There are a bunch of videos and blog posts and stuff about me and others talking about The Mom Test stuff (if you don't feel like paying for a book), and happy to answer specific questions here if you have them.

Best book/article/course = just go to the store (that can place your product)/pick up the phone/send that cold email.