Ondrej, Charlie, You can also ask for sponsor for -2, even while -1 is in NEW. This won't "disturb" the package for sure. The first version in unstable would simply be -2. For example, see console-setup having two versions in NEW[1]. [1] http://ftp-master.debian.org/new.html This feature is especially useful when you find serious problems with -1 that could make it rejected.
Thanks, I also didn't know that. But I usually don't have just one update during the month the package is in NEW, but rather 3 or 4, some of them need to be checked with my sponsor etc. So by using my own versions, I don't need to bother anyone and just update the package in my own repository. Once the package hits unstable, then I ask the sponsor for every update, because it takes less than one day to get to unstable, and that is fine with me (and also by almost 2 months of using the package by myself, most of the basic problems are already fixed). Ondrej