Before you decide to become immersed in the world of the letterpress, you should be aware of the time, effort and money required as an investment. A letterpress is well-suited for students of book arts, typography and design and hobbyists or retirees. If you are serious about learning the letterpress, a standard purchase of equipment might include the press itself, type and fonts, ink and paper. Additional accessories are widely available secondhand through sites such as eBay and Craigslist, such as decorative elements, press parts and typecases.
In his article, "Letterpress from Scratch" (see References), Benjamin Brundell recommends networking with other letterpress printers who are open to discussing the tricks and tools of the trade with a novice. Ask printers if they are open to providing you with hands-on experience--or at least to letting you observe them in action.
You may benefit greatly from joining an online community, such as the one hosted by Briar Press (see Resources). Browse through online forums to read what others in the industry are discussing. If you have questions, a forum is an ideal outlet to ask them; one where you are likely to receive a wide variety of responses from people of varying backgrounds and abilities. Online forums are another excellent way to find out about upcoming events, such as letterpress printer's fairs. Two such gatherings are the Letterpress Printers' Fair in Portland, Oregon, and the Annual Midwest and Great Northern Printers' Fair.
Look into books on letterpress, as well as guides online and offline. One book you may try is "General Printing" by Glen U. Cleeton and Charles W. Pitkin (see Resources), which discusses topics such as industry terms, typesetting, composition, layout, design and more. The British Letterpress website has a variety of informative how-to guides available online. Or, you may consider taking a class in your area. Check the Learning How to Letterpress website (see Resources) for links to such programs as the Chicago Center for Book and Paper Arts, which offers classes in letterpress.
You may also want to visit a printing museum; these are located around the world. A museum is of particular interest to novices and old hands alike, as it is a repository of the history of printing and the evolution of printing technologies. The Gutenberg Museum, located in Mainz, Germany, is an excellent example. Refer to the "Printing Museums" section of the Introduction to Letterpress Printing (see References) for a resource on several printing museums.