Vellichor Literary
Vellichor Literary began with Google Forms — a quick fix that couldn't scale. As submissions surged, clarity vanished. Dapple changed that. One system. Clear workflows. Editors back in control. Submissions, finally working the way they should.
About Vellichor Literary
Independently brewed in San Francisco, Vellichor Literary is a multimedia magazine for the dissonant, the tender, and the unbecoming. Founded by Ben Ramakrishnan, Vellichor has grown from a small experimental press into one of the most exciting voices in contemporary literature.
With over 100k Instagram followers and a global creative community, Vellichor's blend of counterculture energy and lyrical expression has made it a home for work that — in their words — "stains like espresso."
The Challenge
Vellichor's success meant one thing: submissions. Lots of them. They run monthly poetry calls, regular themed issues, and collaborations with other magazines — all through email and Google Forms. What once worked for a few dozen entries became unmanageable as hundreds began arriving each week.
Tracking attachments, following up with entrants, and managing multiple projects with different guidelines was eating up creative time and creating unnecessary friction for both editors and submitters.
"We were growing faster than our systems could handle. Managing calls manually was chaotic. We needed a better way to organise everything."
— Ben Ramakrishnan, Founder
The Solution: Dapple
Vellichor moved their entire submissions process into Dapple, giving them a central hub to manage every call, contest, and collaboration. They created customised forms, a branded listings page where all their calls appear on one URL, and then watched as hundreds of submissions funnelled into a single dashboard.
PROJECTS
Everything in one place
Using Projects, Vellichor can now manage all their open calls side by side, duplicate recurring calls in seconds, and track performance month-to-month.
- Manage all their open calls side by side.
- Duplicate recurring calls (like their monthly poetry prompt) in seconds.
- Track performance month-to-month with side-by-side metrics and analytics.
"Duplicating our monthly poetry call now takes seconds. Everything's stored, tracked, and ready to go."
— Cara Goldstone, Editor
STAGES
Simplified stages and messaging
For their popular Ariadne's Thread competition — a monthly poetry and prose contest — Dapple's Stages feature has been transformative.
- Move winning entries to a dedicated stage.
- Send bulk messages to all entrants with just one click.
- Keep each month's competition structured, transparent, and repeatable.
REVIEWING AND CREATOR INSIGHTS
Reviewing and creator insights
Reviewing submissions is now seamless. Editors can open and read attachments directly within Dapple, leave notes, and make decisions quickly.
- Open and read attachments directly within Dapple (no more downloads).
- Leave notes, review collaboratively, and make decisions quickly.
- See a full creator profile for each submission, allowing them to track returning contributors and recognise repeat submitters over time.
SUBMITTER EXPERIENCE
A better experience for submitters
Just as important as the back-end improvements, Dapple has transformed the experience for writers submitting to Vellichor.
- See all their past and current submissions in one place.
- Track each submission's status in real time.
- Receive updates and messages directly within Dapple.
"This is my first time submitting any of my writings anywhere and I just wanted to say that the whole process was so smooth. It was really impressive, truly."
— Vellichor submitter
TEAM BUILDING
Building the editorial team
As submission volumes grew, Vellichor needed more readers and editors. Using Dapple, they created a hiring project and shared it with their audience.
- 250+ applications were received within a week.
- Offers were sent through Dapple.
- A new editorial team was assembled within days.
The results
Dapple has given Vellichor the tools to grow without losing their artistic integrity. With structure, insight, and ease of use built into every feature, Vellichor can now focus entirely on what matters: discovering the dissonant, the tender, and the unbecoming.
Centralised every submission in one organised workspace.
Simplified recurring calls and contests.
Hired and managed a growing editorial team with ease.
Saved countless hours of admin — while maintaining their creative edge.
"Dapple has completely changed how we work. It's made managing submissions feel creative again — not chaotic."
— Ben Ramakrishnan, Founder