My first post for 2020 is an interview with Saurabh Chawla, Editor and owner of Storizen Magazine, the only magazine dedicated to the Indian Authors.While Saurabh Chawla is a Business Consultant by profession, he has given shape to his passion through his personal blog Saurabh’s Lounge and Storizen Magazine. He has always been inclined towards creativity. An avid reader, he loves reading novels specifically the suspense/thriller genre. He shares his creative explorations in his blog.
1. What prompted you to start Storizen?
Storizen started off as a media platform to help the writers in India to have a voice, to promote their opinions and help them reach the potential audience.
It was founded by one of the dearest friends, Mukesh Rijhwani who is passionate about literature and writing. As a team, we are passionate about giving a versatile platform so that the artist of today is not lost!
There were plenty of Magazines out there but none of them were able to cater to the needs of the author today and empower them. This prompted us to start off Storizen!
2. Tell us a little bit about the magazine. How has the journey been so far?
Storizen is a Magazine aimed towards authors, writers, and the bloggers. We have a vision of empowering the authors so that they can post their voices, their opinions freely!
Storizen is a monthly magazine and every month, we try to bring in new voices, new opinions and upcoming news related to books and literature for our readers.
We re-launched the Magazine in March 2018 and 21 issues later, we are glad that we have been able to reach the 1.5 Million+ impressions and a whooping 50k+ reads digitally!
The journey has been great and is an immense pleasure to say that we have been on the TOP 10 English Magazines in the Celebrity Category and Top 30 English Magazines in the Entertainment category on Magzter!
We would like to thank our readers and Subscribers to make this a possibility and we look forward to your love and support in growing the Storizen Family.
3. We live in times when people are taking less and less interest in art/literature/reading. Your views on the same.
I agree with you here and yes, there is an issue dedicated to the fact that Readership is going down with time!
People nowadays have a plethora of options available that they are not giving any attention to a single thing. The distractions, over-demanding jobs, the social media era et al.
If you look closely, you are surrounded by a lot of distractions which can sweep off your attention in a fraction of a second.
The moment you become interested in one thing, a hundred other things are ready to distract you.
The best way, which I feel and do to curb this is to take the things one at a time. When I sit for reading, I focus on reading and keep other things at bay. It is slightly harder to start, but it will be fruitful for you in the long run!
You can read the Storizen Magazine issue highlighting the idea “Death Of A Reader” here – https://issuu.com/storizen/docs/storizen-magazine-may_2018
4. How do you sustain this venture?
Storizen is a venture that is born out of passion and passion, according to me is priceless. It takes time to be in the market and to sustain the same.
Consistency plays a crucial role here and we thrive to be consistent with our passion. We constantly strive to work and improve with time. The dedication, consistency, and perseverance are the driving force in sustaining Storizen!
5. Our passion doesn’t always pay the bills. What would you like to say to people who would like to follow their passion?
The truth is often hard to digest. Being passionate about something is much needed. It gives you a purpose in life, you feel energized as you wake up in the morning and immense satisfaction when you lie your head down to sleep in the night.
Practically speaking, yes the passion can or cannot pay the bills. In the former case, you are lucky enough and keep following your passion.
For the latter, keep your passion alive but also make sure that you are living a life you have envisioned for yourself. For that, you need to work, you need to work a lot!
Go into the market and do your research. Get a job first so that you can sustain both, your passion and your bills too.
Once your passion becomes capable enough to sustain your living, go ahead and grow the same.
6. Your future plans for Storizen.
Talking about the future, we have had an opportunity to tie up with some of the top brands in the market. We wish to strengthen the bonds and form new relationships.
As per the numbers are concerned, we are focused on increasing the numbers to three folds. We are constantly thriving to learn new things and implement them to grow the Storizen Family!
We are also currently exploring new avenues and will surely look forward to starting off with them soon.
Stay tuned!
7. Anything else that you may want to add
I would like to add a message from my side in the New Year 2020 –
We all live only once and if you live it right, once is enough. This quote by Mae West has a deep message. We always run behind things which we may or may not like, are temporary obsessions or make infinite resolutions for the New Year and fail to fulfill them.
This year, please make a promise to yourself to keep up and achieve what you envision your life to be. Don’t rush on the things, commit to creating what you really care for in life!
Have a blessed year ahead.
Happy New Year!