Robot Dinosaur Magazine is open to submissions year-round.
We accept all genres, including literary, experimental, sci-fi, horror and fantasy. Romance is a tough sell, but if you can knock our socks off with a romantic tale about robot dinosaurs, then by all means, send it our way.
Your submission should not exceed five thousand words.
Although we receive many submissions pertaining to large robot dinosaurs, we do not discriminate based on size. Stories about motorized Microraptors, bionic Phosphatheriums, and any variety of dinonanobots are always welcome.
We will not consider any stories about robotic Brontosauruses, as Brontosaurus is an obsolete synonym for Apatosaurus. Any self-respecting amateur robopaleontologist knows that.
We do not accept fan fiction. We have zero interest in pre-existing characters and situations. We are particularly sick of seeing stories about or inspired by:
- Grimlock, his fellow Dinobots, or any other dinosaur Transformers;
- TREX-1000, a liquid metal assassin sent from the future to kill John Connor;
- Mechagodzilla, Godzilla’s mechanical doppelgänger.
We don’t want first drafts. We want polished labours of love. If you think your piece is ready for publication, wait a month before sending it to us, then read it again. Is your story the best it can possibly be? Is the pacing strong and the plot tight? Are the characters complex, and is their dialogue believable? Does your work say something meaningful about the juxtaposition of technological alienation and prehistoric reptiles? If not, revise it. We want only your best.
Please do not submit fiction about non-robotic prehistoric reptiles. This is Robot Dinosaur Magazine. We don’t want stories about robots that aren’t dinosaurs, or dinosaurs that aren’t robots!
For an example of the kind of writing we do want, familiarize yourself with the work in our archives, such as “A Good Tricerabots Is Hard to Find,” which we recently nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
Email your story as an RTF attachment to: submissions@robotdinosaurmagazine.com. Include with your cover letter your name, address, phone number, publication history, a brief third-person bio totalling less than one hundred words, a link to your site, and a black-and-white author photo as a JPG attachment with a maximum file size of 35K. Also include a list of your ten favourite stories published in Robot Dinosaur Magazine and the reasons you chose them. Submissions that fail to include all of the above will be deleted unread.
There is no payment at this time.
Upon acceptance, your piece can and will be edited for content, style and formatting. Edits will be made at the sole discretion of our editorial staff. If you’re not comfortable with this, don’t bother sending us your story. We are busy people with families, day jobs, and robodino writing careers of our own.
If you just found us on Duotrope and are looking for some place to publish your work, we ask you: Why? Is the motivation behind your creative writing all about externally validating your fragile ego? Or do you truly want to contribute something beautiful and stimulating to the world, something that by necessity involves robot dinosaurs?
No simultaneous submissions.
We will make every effort to reply as quickly as possible, but our response may take anywhere from six months to three years. Be patient. Do not query. If you haven’t heard from us within three years, your piece has not been accepted.
All rejections are final.
Thanks for your interest in Robot Dinosaur Magazine. We look forward to reading your work.
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