My launch went out unfeatured and got 0 upvotes. What should I check before the next one?

I'm a solo developer. In August I launched a small side project here, and it was never featured, so it couldn't rank at all. It finished with 0 upvotes and 1 comment. My earlier launch, a job-search tool, got only a few upvotes back in July.

Looking back, I think I made two mistakes. I launched without checking whether it would be featured, and I didn't spend any time in the community beforehand. Since then I've been active here daily for about three months.

For makers whose launches were featured: what did you change in your listing (tagline, gallery, first comment, topics) that you think made the difference? I'm especially curious whether anything specific helps a niche or experimental product get featured.