I see a lot of you Deejay’s out there are mixing up CD's, but I'm sure they will differentiate a lot with a few matters at hand; Quality of mixing, quality of recording, tracks/gaps, cd manufacturing.

Quality of mixing, I can't help you with, but the rest I can....

Recording

Recording direct to CD (hardware CD Burner) isn't a great idea as mistakes cost you a CD and no extra editing can be performed. Best to record direct to your PC using a wave audio application. While you’re mixing, pay extra special care to your level meters, keeping clipping minimal whilst ensuring tracks are kept at an even level. Use your EQ well (mainly cutting the low's), as blending tracks together well, can only be done while you're on the decks. Once you've finished save your file! Nothing worse than loosing an hour mix... Look at the wave formation as a whole, you will see each individual track as the mix goes along, but hopefully the waveform is reasonably flat (depending how well you've mixed your tracks).

Destructive Editing

Typically, you want a quick start to your mix, and a nice fade at the end. If you’re mixing vinyl, you'll have a load of rumble and hiss before the first track starts. Trim your file as close as possible to the start of the first track. Maybe insert a low cut (ridding that low rumble away) and fade it out as the track begins. Make sure when you press play, the tracks starts instantly without a trace of noise. Noise, is anything you DON'T want recorded, i.e. hiss or low end rumble, needle dropping etc...

For your end fade, ensure that you are using a part of the track that isn't going to suddenly change. You want to fade on a repeating chorus or verse/hook. Or maybe just a beat fade. Don't use a record's natural fade out or you will just have to deal with vinyl noise, only causing you more problems. A good fade out has a curve to it, rather than just a straight line. Experiment with your program's example settings and perfect the fade out. Listen to a commercial record, see how it's done.

Processing

If you want your mix to stick out, be nice and loud and have an even dynamic range, you'll need to add compression. Depending on your software, this might not be possible.. Maybe importing your mix into Cubase or Logic will help. This is a longer process, but might be necessary. You only need to add very light compression (ensuring your level mixing was done well!) with a light ratio (1:1:5 approx) and a small threshold (-5dB approx). Attack and release settings should be set reasonably slow to avoid any tell tale signs of compression, experiment with all these settings. This compression shouldn't have an adverse effect on the music, yet you should be getting a louder overall signal. Some slight limiting maybe required to trim off any clipping and/or squeeze out that last bit of level.

Track Marking

Hopefully, your burning application is capable of marking tracks with no gaps. I know with Nero this is possible. You need to set your time between tracks to 0 seconds. However, marking tracks I am not so sure of. Refer to help files and software manuals for more information on this. Try to mark your tracks at a definitive point in the mix, keeping it in time, where the incoming track is dominant.

CD Manufacturing

With companies like Epson producing printers capable of printing CD's for under £150, there is no excuse for handing out scruffy, finger marked CDR's with permanent marker scribbled all over them. Ink Jet printers have a higher DPI than ever and can produce stunning results. You can completely customize how your CD looks. Take a photo, edit it, whack it on the CD, and write your title..... It's endless.

Misc

Most professional CD burning applications give you the option to include text written in to the CD. Artist, track names etc..... Take advantage of this as it adds that last professional touch that you may need! Good news for Logic 7 users as Apple have thrown in a complete stand alone Wave Burning application that lets you edit, master and burn your CD's to Redbook standard (the industry standard for CD burning. Ensures it will play on ANY CD player)