We recently connected with Ben and have shared our conversation below.

Ben, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

Vellichor serves as a safe space where everyone can feel comfortable and empowered to create, self-express, and exist authentically. We strive to welcome different identities in all their intersectionality. As a BIPOC, queer, and neurodivergent teen, I struggled to find a space within the literary community that welcomed all the intersecting parts of my identity. I started Vellichor to bridge that gap – with a commitment to the representation of underrepresented, marginalized communities. The arts do not discriminate, and neither do we!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I’m Ben Ramakrishnan, I’m fifteen years old, and I am the founder and editor-in-chief of Vellichor Literary, a multimedia magazine. Art has practically been flowing in my veins since the day I was born. My mom sings and does theatre, traits that both passed down to me! My dad loves to read and has always encouraged me to read and write, both of which I’ve been doing since I was two years old. I’m passionate about writing, literature, graphic design, film, and the arts. It had always been a big goal of mine to create something and put out in the world; a project that had a positive impact on people’s lives – something bigger than me. Starting a literary magazine allowed me to combine that desire with my passions! We have no restrictions on who we publish, which means you can submit to Vellichor regardless of your age, background, location, language, or experience level with publishing. I wanted publication to be accessible to all – not just to those who can afford to pay expensive submission fees or people with literary agents, representation, and prior experience. Vellichor opens doors and allows everyone to have a shot (or two, or ten!) at publication. I’m most proud of our resilience. We’ve seen our ups and downs and been subject to bigoted hate comments, and yet, we still manage to get back up and keep going.

How did you build your audience on social media?

To be honest, I didn’t know the first thing about social media management, marketing, or graphic design prior to starting Vellichor. Launching the magazine really forced me to teach myself all these skills, research as much as I could, and learn from my mistakes. My best advice is to prepare, learn, and be open to trial and error. Social media management can be thrilling, frustrating, and exhausting all at once. Equipping yourself with these skills will teach you an immense amount.

Do you sell on your site, or do you use a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc?

We use Ko-fi, which I’d highly recommend as a storefront platform to other literary magazine owners, zine owners, designers, or artists. It’s super easy, user-friendly, and simple! It takes all of ten seconds to set up, and then you’re good to go! A lot of folks in the creative space are also already familiar with the platform, so that’s definitely a plus.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @vellichor_lit
• Youtube: @VellichorLiterary

Image Credits

Meena Duzak-Forestier