In fact, I have a same question. I finished a new directoryodir.com several days ago. I will submit manually it to many directories after getting these useful help from here. Thanks all
So, I see alot of people are into the design over function mentality. First off, start here, list your dir and you will get quite a few submits. There are alot of webmaster forums that you could solicit submits for your directory. You already know Info.vilesilencer. and search for more directory topsites to submit your site to. It might help to make your site free for a little while to get your momentum going. get rid of site confirmation for now. It makes for easier site submission. 1k to promote your site is alot of money, use it wisely. get the best manual site submitter in DP. (Lurk around and you will find out who they are) Buy about 500 dir submits, if you could do it yourself the better. Sitemap to Google, Yahoo and submit your site to MSN for crawling. And lastly have patience. Rome was not built in one day. It takes time to get your site indexed. Good luck.
I think it would be a good idea to have a nice design at least for your directory besides you've got a nice bit of categories!!!