If you don't already know about Starship Asterisk then I highly recommend you take a look from time to time: http://bb.nightskylive.net/asterisk/viewforum.php?f=29
Look at the "Recent Submissions" threads - these summarise some of the recent work folk have submitted to APOD. Most of them don't make it to become Photo of the Day but they are often world class amateur images, nonetheless.
Mark