hey guys... first post. thought i'd help out
beanrick,
by "manual" i assume you're doing copy and paste. that is definately a time waster! i don't recommend you use an autosubmitter. yes it's frowned upon. besides that a majority of the sites that send traffic now use some sort of passphrass which a majority of the autosubmitters can't submit to. i suggest you use a assisted submitter such as advanced submitter (see my sig) basically it saves you all the work and fills in the forms for you just have to double check for errors and click submit.
should you get partner accounts? that depends how are your galleries look and what kind of content you use. since you're getting some sales, i assume you know what your doing. in which case you should check to which sites that you already submit to actually lists you. start there and apply for a partner accounts. benefits are most will list you right away without having to review you. i have a list of 200+ partner only TGPs (check my sig).
as to what connection to use.. definately the faster the better (at least dsl). you will be able to submit 2-3x faster than dialup!
good luck
rayzor88