Just starting out!

Hi all,

Thanks for allowing me to join your group, and hopefully I can learn to make some special sourdough bread, with determination and a little help  

Just attempted to make my first sourdough loaves. I enjoyed the experience and the resulting loaves taste ok but I made a few mistakes in the process. This resulted in producing sourdough with a tight crumb. I think I have kneaded the dough for too long 12 minutes also I forgot to add the salt and brown sugar (as stated in the recipe I was following) so added this to the dough after initial kneading and commenced to knead for another minute or two. 

The starter I used only arrived on Tuesday it was fed prior to use and was being stored in the fridge, I did take it out of the fridge 12 hours before I used it and it appeared quite active, ( should I have left the starter longer before using it). 

I am brand new to baking but I have my mind set on making decent sourdough instead of buying it from the supermarket. I’m going to have my next attempt next week, any advice, tips and help would be appreciated. Are there any good books that I should look at on this subject or just keep to the internet or this forum?

Cheers Kneady