I would have written a lot more detail, but I can't trust people on HN to upvote my post, and it would be a wasted effort. Just listening to myself gets old quickly...
Anyways it is a worthwhile thing to look into these before the mainstream gets to them. There are two main exchanges to trade alternative cryptocurrencies, here [2] and here [3]. Also there is a forum where they are discussed and you can monitor the hype [4].
[1] Litecoin is now accepted for donations on The Pirate Bay, the number one torrent site
[2] btc-e.com
[3] vircurex.com
[4] bitcointalk.org/index.php?board=67.0