If you are just starting out it is better to be listed, by building a good freesite, than worrying about how many recips to put on your freesite.
My opinion is to start with 9 to 12 and make sure you are getting listed at the bigger linklists. Once this is happening consistently you should be able to move up to 16 to 20 without that many problems. Of course, they should definitely be custom text recips at that time.
The key is, as stated earlier, "as long as it doesn't look like shit."
Good Luck
