I have tried a couple of different article submission software available today and neither of them fully automate the process of article submissions. Some software come pretty close to doing just that, and Article Post Robot is one of them.
Please note that this is my unbiased review of Article Post Robot and I am in no way affiliated with this software.
Article Post Robot makes it very easy to submit unique content (to a certain extent) to as many as 400 directories. Sure, a large portion of the article directories are not worthwhile to submit to, but if you make one submission to 25% of the highest PR directories available in the software, you can get a lot of free traffic.
The good thing about Article Post Robot is the fact that it can spin an article to make new  unique versions out of it for submission. Now you can use variations of the title, content and resource box in order to make sure that you do not have duplication issues with your submissions.
The software itself is great! What is not so great is the fact that many directories take days or even weeks to approve your content, which can results in a considerable delay in getting backlinks.
Another plus point of the software is that it also submits your content to over 50 mailing lists, which can have a viral effect if your content is good enough.
In the end, the software is worth the price of $127. It will pay for itself many times over. It is certainly better than hiring a SEO consultant to submit your content to 400 directories and charge $200 for it.
Article Post Robot does not fully automate the submission process, but it comes close. My recommendation is to buy the software!