One way to become informed about the publishing industry and to keep up on industry news, the best promotional activities, resources for authors and so forth is to subscribe to and READ/STUDY some of the many industry newsletters. Here are those that I recommend for authors.
Publishing Basic
Free
http://www.publishingbasics.com
Book Marketing Matters
Free
http://www.bookmarketing.com
Book Promotion Newsletter
Small fee
http://www.bookpromotionnewsletter.com
SPAWNews
Free
http://www.spawn.org
SPAWN Market Update
Membership in SPAWN required
Join SPAWN at: http://www.spawn.org
Publishers Weekly daily
Free
http://www.publishersweekly.com
Tomorrow I will talk about organizations for authors.