As an editor of the DMOZ Directory, I've realized what are the most important thing to be taken into account by web masters submitting their work:

  1. Make sure you submit to the most appropriate category. This is very important, as it will decide whether your site is updated into the directory or not. If a site is in the correct category the editor will probably add it to the directory if it is ok, but if the category is wrong the site will go to the bottom of the reviewing list of another category, resulting in months of waiting for you.
  2. Make your description as small as possible, editors don't like more than 2 lines of description, and that means 15-20 words.
  3. Never have "under construction" or "404" errors, if any of your pages is on error or under construction simply don't link to it.
  4. Make sure your homepage is on topic, with one quick glance most editors will know if they want to keep reading and browsing your site or not. So your homepage must be attractive and link to all your relevant information.
  5. Focus your description on the category topic, if you submit to Web development, you could put in the description "web development company in CA", try to avoid things like "Welcome to Urbano's Blog, your home for the best...", that is completely Anti-Dmoz.

In general use common sense when submitting, and don't forget to note down the editor's name, category name, and submission date, in case you need to contact DMOZ in the future to know how your site is going for example.
If after a long time (More than 5 months) you don't know about your site's inclusion you should consider contacting the editor or resubmitting, because there is a good chance that your site was moved to the bottom of the list of unreviewed sites.