Chris - for the first week we mix you in on the "new" page with hosted free sites and "friends" sites (I am my own best friend LOL) - and there are no paid spots - although many of the LL owners have considered it to some degree in the last 2-3 years
The day that you are listed, you would be towards the top of the listings for the new page - then work our way down the page as new sites are added
At the same time, the category pages are rotated alphabetically every day - so a boost every once in a while after falling off the new page.
I agree with the micro-niche discussion and would stress to anyone building free sites that the smaller niches like smoking, pregnant drunk party etc are where I would spend my time, and would very rarely do a teen, anal or shemale site these days
Even if you have a teen model - I would look at pushing the "petite" style or her using sex toys - something that gets it into a more specific niche - I can guarantee that the returns are worth it