I had the same problem as Jasse. After three years, I gave up, signed up (and was accepted) as an editor for the category I wanted to be listed in.
After becoming an editor, the first thing I realized was my site didn't belong in that category! :(
I diligently researched the rules for accepting a site into the directory in general, as well as the category I was editing. What an eye opener!
As I worked through the massive backlog of submissions, I realized that most people doing the submitting never bother to read the guidelines.
Here are just a few things you can do to make life easier on the category editor, which in turn will speed things up.
1) Don't bother to submit until your site is up and running. Under construction pages and code that doesn't work will most likely get your submission deleted from the queue. If your site is otherwise fully functional, leave off the links to areas that are still being worked on. You can add the links back in when the area is completed.
2) Forget the hype. Create a solid site description without the marketing hype and keyword stuffing. Be accurate. If the editor has to rewrite your description it will slow down the process, regardless of how good your site is.
3) Ditto #2 for the Site Title! Commercial sites should only list the official company name as the site title. Titles that do not follow the guidelines for that category force the editor to do more work.
Unlike other directory editors, DMOZ Editors are volunteers, with varying degrees of time available to review submissions. When a submission doesn't follow the guidelines, the editor must spend more time on that submission, slowing down their response time for the other submissions.
Just a quick sidebar: DMOZ guidelines ask editors to only list unique content. If your site is full of affiliate links, it will only qualify for inclusion if it also provides a reasonable quantity of high quality unique content, no matter how good the site looks.
This information is less than the tip of the iceberg. It is important that you do research before you submit. The resource zone forum previously listed by mhalloran is a great place to start.
AC
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