#FirstLove: A Juggernaut Love Story Contest

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Update : The Top 10 shortlisted entries are out. Find out the winners here 

So many stories, and so little time to read: We’re extending the last date of the contest to 5th September due to an overwhelming number of stories we’ve received. Hurry!

Wanna be published? All you need is a story about first love!

Romance writers, here’s your chance to be published on the Juggernaut app: send in your best story to firstlove@juggernaut.in, and if your story is among the ten best entries, you will be published on Juggernaut!

We’re keeping it simple: send us a story about ‘First Love’ — whether on campus, or at the workplace, or even during a holiday [and if you really want to stretch your limits, during your first space walk!]. Bowl over our judges with your writing, and if your story is among the best three, you stand a chance to win cash prizes! The best story will win Rs. 50,000, and two other stories will win Rs. 25,000 each!

Who’ll judge it, you ask?

Faraaz Kazi, the Nicholas Sparks of India, will be taking a close look at your story, along with Megha Rao, romance writer extraordinaire, and Shriya Garg, whose first book was published when she was 16.

Send in your entries by 30th August (edit: last date is now 5th September) — hurry!

Rules 

  1. Each contestant can only send in 1 story, so choose your best.
  2. Please limit your story to 3,000 words (the judges will want to read everyone’s story, you see).
  3. Contest is open only to Indians.
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91 Comments

  1. Ada / August 12, 2016 at 3:37 am /Reply

    Must the characters be Indian?

    • Team Juggernaut / August 12, 2016 at 10:18 am /Reply

      hey Ada, not at all. that’s completely up to you. cheers!

  2. ibn-e-meer / August 12, 2016 at 4:37 pm /Reply

    If someone’s story gets rejected so will he/she has the copyright to publish it somewhere else or Juggernaut owns the copyright?

    • Team Juggernaut / August 16, 2016 at 10:08 am /Reply

      Hi, Juggernaut will not own the copyright if the story is rejected.
      Thanks,

  3. ysaikumar / August 13, 2016 at 1:12 pm /Reply

    One question : what happens to the stories that don’t make the cut. say once the competition is over, prize distribution is done et all. Will the rights be reverted back to the writer or is there more to it.

    • Team Juggernaut / August 16, 2016 at 10:11 am /Reply

      hi, the rights will remain with the author if the story has not been selected.
      best,

  4. ARPITA / August 13, 2016 at 1:26 pm /Reply

    hi, any entry fees to participate?

    • Team Juggernaut / August 16, 2016 at 10:11 am /Reply

      Not at all, Arpita.

  5. Pooja / August 13, 2016 at 4:21 pm /Reply

    When you say “stretch your limits”, I can totally go beyond the usual regular human beings paradigm, right? To put it simply, is medeival fantasy alright?:)
    Cheers!

    • Team Juggernaut / August 16, 2016 at 10:12 am /Reply

      Yup! As long as you can impress our judges with your rendition, we are open to anything. best of luck!

  6. Pooja / August 13, 2016 at 4:22 pm /Reply

    *medieval fantasy, right?

    (Sorry, typos. ugh)

  7. Madhvi / August 14, 2016 at 4:45 pm /Reply

    1. Must the entry be original, or can it be repurposed from a piece on the blog space?
    2. In case the story isn’t chosen, hope the owners will continue to hold the rights and utilise the story elsewhere?

    • Team Juggernaut / August 16, 2016 at 10:13 am /Reply

      hi Madhvi, we’d prefer the story to be unpublished, but if it has been published on a personal blog, we’re open to it. The rights will continue to be with the author if the story has not been selected.
      best,

      • Madhvi / August 24, 2016 at 4:40 pm /Reply

        This is helpful. Thank you!

  8. Sujay / August 15, 2016 at 7:49 pm /Reply

    Not sure if I’m missing the information. But whats the timeline to submit this?

    • Sujay / August 15, 2016 at 7:50 pm /Reply

      Sorry. The page wasn’t opening completely earlier. Got my answer. Thank you!!

  9. Jasprit / August 15, 2016 at 10:19 pm /Reply

    English or Hinglish?

    • Team Juggernaut / August 16, 2016 at 10:14 am /Reply

      English, preferably.

  10. Radhika / August 16, 2016 at 2:44 am /Reply

    Hi,
    Can we send previously published stories? For eg, a story that was published in an e-anthology abroad?

    • Team Juggernaut / August 16, 2016 at 10:15 am /Reply

      hi Radhika, we’d prefer previously unpublished stories for the contest. thanks,

      • Radhika / August 16, 2016 at 10:40 am /Reply

        Thanks very much for the clarification… time to get off ProcrastinationLand and start writing the short story…!

  11. Rupam / August 16, 2016 at 10:42 am /Reply

    Hi,

    Is there any guidelines for the format for submission?

    Thanks.

    • Team Juggernaut / August 16, 2016 at 10:45 am /Reply

      hi Rupam, re: the format for submissions: nothing specific, although we’d prefer it to be a word doc.
      thanks,

  12. Arka Datta / August 16, 2016 at 12:46 pm /Reply

    Is the word limit a suggestion or a rule? can’t be 3500?

    • Team Juggernaut / August 16, 2016 at 1:04 pm /Reply

      hi Arka, the word limit’s a rule :)
      best,

      • Arka Datta / August 16, 2016 at 1:45 pm /Reply

        Okay, thank you :)

  13. SUJOY GUPTA / August 16, 2016 at 7:05 pm /Reply

    Hi,

    Two queries:
    1. When will the winners be announced?
    2. Will an 1800-word story be treated as 2nd tier because it’s too short?

    • Team Juggernaut / August 17, 2016 at 10:21 am /Reply

      hi Sujoy, 1800 words is fine — all you need to do is impress our judges! as for when winners will be announced, we’ll keep you posted!
      best,

  14. Krishna Kant / August 17, 2016 at 4:24 am /Reply

    Hi,
    Does the story have to be in prose? Or we can even attempt to write it in poetry?

    • Team Juggernaut / August 17, 2016 at 10:22 am /Reply

      hi Krishna, yes, the story has to be prose, not poetry. cheers!

  15. Mithilesh Kumar / August 17, 2016 at 8:15 am /Reply

    At what address the story is to be sent? Cheers.

  16. Rajarshi / August 19, 2016 at 2:12 pm /Reply

    Team Juggernaut,

    You guys are so vibrant! Love your website and the webmaster :)

    Regards

    • Team Juggernaut / August 19, 2016 at 5:49 pm /Reply

      Aww! Thanks so much! :)

  17. Roshan Dsouza / August 19, 2016 at 5:25 pm /Reply

    Hi,
    The story has to be about First Love or can it be about Falling in love too?
    First love will almost necessitate that the protogonists be teens or thereabouts..(I mean who has his first fall in his 30s!)

    • Team Juggernaut / August 19, 2016 at 5:50 pm /Reply

      Hey Roshan — that’s up to you. the story can recreate first love from an adult perspective too. and who knows, maybe there are folks who’ve found love only in their 30s? :) cheers!

  18. Roshan Dsouza / August 20, 2016 at 12:03 pm /Reply

    Haha ok 😊..enough of analysis.. gotta get down to writing.

  19. Kala Ravi / August 21, 2016 at 10:27 pm /Reply

    Super excited, my short story is almost ready to be shipped…yayy!

  20. Shweta / August 24, 2016 at 12:20 am /Reply

    Hi! Is the 3000 word limit an ‘encouraged’ length? Are you specifically looking for stories of that length, or are shorter pieces okay?

    • Team Juggernaut / August 24, 2016 at 10:30 am /Reply

      hi Shweta, we aren’t specifically looking for stories that are exactly that length; shorter than 3,000 words is fine with us too. best,

  21. PADMINI SANKAR / August 25, 2016 at 12:00 pm /Reply

    Hi, are there any rules about how to submit the story? For example:
    -font size and style
    -as an attachment
    -within the body of the email

    Please advise.
    Thanks
    Padmini

    • Team Juggernaut / August 26, 2016 at 10:17 am /Reply

      Hi Padmini, no rules for that — would be great as a Word attachment, but that’s about it. no restrictions on font sizes and styles [unless font size is 48 pts+ :)]
      cheers!

  22. Kapil Kumar / August 26, 2016 at 8:55 pm /Reply

    Sent the story, waiting for the date of result to be disclosed. 😊😊

  23. Sapna jain / August 29, 2016 at 2:45 pm /Reply

    Hey I just sent my story as an email to firstlove@juggernaut.in. Hope thats alright..

    • Team Juggernaut / August 29, 2016 at 4:53 pm /Reply

      hi Sapna, sure — not a problem at all! cheers!

  24. Saiteja / August 29, 2016 at 9:17 pm /Reply

    Hi. My story just turned out to be of around 4000 words. Will it be surely disqualified for the run? Should I re-edit it?

    • Team Juggernaut / August 30, 2016 at 10:15 am /Reply

      If you can bring it down, give it a try? The word limit is also for you as a writer to adapt to the form. :) Cheers!

  25. Sag G / August 29, 2016 at 11:41 pm /Reply

    August is a 31 day month! Come on! Extend it by a day!

    • Team Juggernaut / August 30, 2016 at 10:16 am /Reply

      We heard you! The last date for submitting is now 5th September!

      • Sag G / August 30, 2016 at 4:47 pm /Reply

        Thanks a ton! Now that it is extended, will definitely give it a shot!

  26. Archana / August 30, 2016 at 10:57 am /Reply

    Hi, Should we post our personal details in the word document too? Or just in the mail?

    • Team Juggernaut / August 30, 2016 at 11:19 am /Reply

      Hi Archana, just the mail is fine. you don’t need to post personal details in the word doc.
      thanks,

      • Archana / August 30, 2016 at 5:53 pm /Reply

        Thank you for the prompt response :)

  27. Rhiti Chatterjee Bose / August 30, 2016 at 3:39 pm /Reply

    Hi, I have sent in my story, but have not included any bio or personal details.
    Do I need to resubmit my story?
    Regards

    • Team Juggernaut / August 31, 2016 at 10:31 am /Reply

      Not necessary Rhiti. Best of luck!

  28. Shreyas Pokharna / August 30, 2016 at 5:10 pm /Reply

    When will the results be announced? At least inform the estimated date please.

    • Team Juggernaut / August 31, 2016 at 10:32 am /Reply

      Very soon! We’re still receiving submissions, so as soon as we finish reading all of them and decide, we’ll announce the results!

      • Shreyas Pokharna / September 4, 2016 at 5:17 pm /Reply

        Thank You! My entry will be in today.

  29. Shivani Shourie / August 31, 2016 at 7:09 pm /Reply

    Thanks for extending the date. It is a great lifesaver!!

  30. jyoti / August 31, 2016 at 9:40 pm /Reply

    What is the minimum word limit please?

    • Team Juggernaut / September 1, 2016 at 10:13 am /Reply

      no minimum word limit, Jyoti.

  31. Maria / September 2, 2016 at 6:09 pm /Reply

    Can a contestant be an OCI (Overseas Citizen of India)?

    • Team Juggernaut / September 4, 2016 at 9:28 am /Reply

      Hi, yes, you can send in your entry. Best,

  32. Neha / September 3, 2016 at 5:42 pm /Reply

    So I know the theme is First Love, but does it have to be an out and out romance story? My story will definitely touch upon the theme but it may not be a conventional love story, is that still ok guys?

    • Team Juggernaut / September 4, 2016 at 9:29 am /Reply

      That’s up to you, Neha, as long as it satisfies our judges that the story is still about first love. Cheers!

  33. Amal Singh / September 5, 2016 at 1:08 pm /Reply

    Hi Team,

    Just wondering. If 5th was the last day, I thought it’d be open through 11:59 PM. Is it too late to sub?

    Regards,
    Amal Singh

    • Team Juggernaut / September 5, 2016 at 4:51 pm /Reply

      hi Amal, today’s the last day. please send in your entry as soon as possible. thanks,

  34. Vikas / September 5, 2016 at 9:59 pm /Reply

    Came to know about the contest yesterday only. Would have loved to participate. Wish I could get a day more!

  35. Vikas / September 5, 2016 at 10:02 pm /Reply

    Team juggernaut,

    Kindly extend the last date by a day or so. Kindly!!!
    Regards,
    Vikas

    • Team Juggernaut / September 6, 2016 at 10:26 am /Reply

      HI Vikas, terribly sorry — we already extended the deadline by a week! But don’t worry — there will be more contests in the future too! cheers!

  36. Aditi Ray Bose / September 7, 2016 at 9:54 am /Reply

    How can we keep a track of all the future contests?

    • Team Juggernaut / September 7, 2016 at 10:12 am /Reply

      Hey Aditi, sign up for our newsletter at http://www.juggernaut.in, or follow us on Facebook or Twitter. cheers!

  37. vishal / September 7, 2016 at 1:35 pm /Reply

    when can we expect the shortlist please?

    • Team Juggernaut / September 7, 2016 at 2:47 pm /Reply

      Hi Vishal, the first shortlist will be out by the end of next week. cheers!

      • Ajay / September 7, 2016 at 4:17 pm /Reply

        What do you mean by first shortlist? Will it have the names of all 10 shortlisted people? How many shortlist will come out?

        • Team Juggernaut / September 8, 2016 at 10:10 am /Reply

          Hi Ajay, 10 people will be selected in the shortlist. Of these 10, the judges will pick the 3 winners. Best,

  38. Shreyas Pokharna / September 11, 2016 at 4:18 pm /Reply

    Hi Team, when will the results be out?

  39. Ashish / September 14, 2016 at 10:58 pm /Reply

    When shall you let us know about the shortlist and how? Will it be published as a blogpost?

  40. Reena Kamath / September 15, 2016 at 1:23 pm /Reply

    Hi when can we expect the results?

  41. Ravi Kiran / September 15, 2016 at 3:58 pm /Reply

    Hello Team, when can we expect the shortlist?

  42. Rupam / September 15, 2016 at 4:05 pm /Reply

    Hi Juggernaut Team,

    When can we expect the results?

    • Team Juggernaut / September 18, 2016 at 10:20 am /Reply

      Hey guys — the shortlist will be announced on the 26th both on the blog and on social media. Cheers!

  43. Ashish / September 26, 2016 at 10:24 am /Reply

    Finally, it is the 26th!!! Excited to know the shortlist! Please release soon!

  44. Binit / September 26, 2016 at 11:28 am /Reply

    Are the results going to be out today?

  45. Kala Ravi / September 26, 2016 at 1:21 pm /Reply

    We are here – 26th September! Fingers, toes crossed! 😉

  46. Poulami / September 26, 2016 at 2:37 pm /Reply

    When shall we expect the results?

  47. Rajarshi / September 26, 2016 at 3:19 pm /Reply

    Who said it is 26th September? 😀

  48. raja / September 26, 2016 at 3:59 pm /Reply

    when can we expect the result of the First Love story contest (The shortlist….)

  49. Fathima / September 26, 2016 at 4:18 pm /Reply

    Looking forward to the results.

  50. A / September 26, 2016 at 5:33 pm /Reply

    Guys, when do we expect the shortlist? And the final three winners?

  51. Aditi Ray Bose / September 29, 2016 at 6:45 pm /Reply

    Have the results been announced?

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