Submitting a show to Aby is a strategic process that starts before you upload a video: it begins with a clear pitch, polished assets, and a plan for building community engagement. Aby evaluates projects using community signals and editorial review to identify ideas that should become long-form shows. This guide provides a practical, step-by-step workflow, a pre-submission checklist, submission instructions and post-submission tactics that increase the likelihood your work will be selected and promoted.

Why submit to Aby?

Discovery: Aby connects short-form and episodic animation to an audience that actively rates and engages.
Development pipeline: Strong community performance can lead to development opportunities in Plot Thickener and promotion to Watch or Aby Stream.
Unified workflow: A single account across Watch, Community and Create keeps your profile, assets and analytics connected.

Pre-submission checklist (what to prepare)

Creative & pitch materials

Elevator pitch (50–100 words): a one-sentence hook that communicates premise and stakes.
Series overview (1 page): logline, tone, target audience, episode length, and five comparable shows.
Pilot synopsis (300–500 words): a concise summary of the pilot that highlights key beats and characters.
Trailer or teaser (30–90 seconds): optional but highly recommended to increase CTR and initial completion rates.

Media & technical assets

Master video file: provide a high-quality master and a web-optimized encode per Aby upload specs (codec, container, resolution).
Poster/thumbnail: site-recommended aspect ratio (typically 16:9) with legible text at small sizes.
Stills & production images: 3–8 high-resolution images for the show page.
Captions & transcript: formatted transcript with timestamps and speaker labels; transcripts are essential for SEO and accessibility.
Supporting assets: pitch deck PDF, one-page production plan, and optional shot list.

Metadata & crew details

Title conventions: use a consistent format (e.g., Series Name — S01E01: Pilot).
Descriptions: craft both short (50–150 words) and long (250–400 words) descriptions with keywords in the first 100 words.
Tags & categories: 6–12 focused tags covering genre, tone and subject matter.
Credits: director, writer, producer and key crew with brief bios and links.

Submission process — step-by-step

1. Create a creator account

Register on Aby and complete your creator profile. Use a professional photo, concise bio and links to a portfolio or website.

2. Build the show page in Community

Create a Community project or show page to host your pilot and supporting materials. Publishing in Community allows you to gather early feedback and demonstrate audience interest.

3. Upload assets

From the creator dashboard, upload your videos and thumbnails. Complete all required metadata fields. If you encounter technical issues, consult the troubleshooting guide on the support page.

4. Publish to Community

Publish the pilot or a pilot excerpt in Community. Encourage collaborators, friends and early fans to watch, rate and comment—early engagement is an important signal.

What Aby looks for — high-level curation signals

The exact weighting of Aby’s editorial and algorithmic signals is proprietary. That said, successful projects typically demonstrate:

Community engagement: active ratings, thoughtful comments and sharing.
Strong watch metrics: completion rate, average watch time and repeat views.
Craft quality: compelling characters, clear storytelling, production values (sound, color, animation).
Production readiness: complete assets, a series bible or production plan, and a team capable of delivering further episodes.
Distinctive voice: a concept or execution that stands out in tone, style or approach.

Focus on measurable improvements in these areas rather than attempting to reverse-engineer internal scoring.

Best practices to increase selection probability

Start in Community and build early momentum

Seed the project with an initial audience of 50–200 engaged viewers (team, contacts, niche communities). Early activity helps Aby’s discovery systems surface your show to a broader audience.

Use Aby Create (Plot Thickener) to demonstrate readiness

A clearly developed series bible and sample episodes in Plot Thickener show editorial reviewers that you have a plan for multiple episodes and an efficient production workflow. Let us know if you'd like to test our tool!

Run community events to boost engagement

Host watch parties, Q&As, polls and contests to incentivize ratings and comments. Events create organic spikes in engagement that are valuable curation signals.

Polish the first impression

Optimize your trailer, thumbnail and the first 30 seconds of the episode. These elements determine CTR and early completion rate—two critical metrics for discovery.

After submission — next steps & possible outcomes

Promotion to Watch: Projects that perform well in Community can be promoted to Aby Watch for broader visibility.
Aby Stream consideration: Top projects may be selected for premium hosting as part of Aby Stream. Eligibility and terms are determined during editorial review.
Iterate and resubmit: Use feedback and performance data to improve the pilot and subsequent episodes.

Frequently asked questions

How long does editorial review take?
Times vary. Projects that meet technical requirements and demonstrate strong community signals typically progress faster through review.

Can I submit a teaser or partial episode?
Yes. Many creators publish teasers or pilot excerpts to test audience response before uploading full episodes.

Is payment guaranteed?
Payment is not guaranteed. Aby supports monetization programs and a pro tier; specific terms and eligibility are described in the monetization guide.