SPS Stories
Alumni Spotlight
Francesca Cocchi
Summer Publishing Institute (SPI)
SPI Alum Crafts the Perfect Beach Read
Fast Facts
- Credits NYU’s Summer Publishing Institute with launching her career and expanding her creative network
- Have a Great Summer is Cocchi’s debut novel, with a followup slated for 2027
- Has worked for national media brands including Food Network Magazine and TODAY
<p>Francesca Cocchi is a writer and editor for national media outlets who recently channeled her lifelong passion for storytelling into <a href="https://www.kensingtonbooks.com/9781496760791/have-a-great-summer/"><i>Have a Great Summer</i></a>, an enthralling beach read set at the Jersey Shore. She credits NYU’s <a href="https://www.sps.nyu.edu/certificates/summer-publishing-institute.html">Summer Publishing Institute</a> (SPI) with providing the industry insights, confidence, and connections that helped bring her debut novel to fruition.</p>
<p>The idea for <i>Have a Great Summer</i> arrived unexpectedly, she shares. When Cocchi and her husband got married, there was a typo on her marriage license. “That situation got me thinking. What if we hadn’t caught the mistake? Would our whole wedding have been void?” The hypothetical spiraled into a rom‑com‑worthy premise. A year later, Cocchi committed to getting her ideas on the page.</p>
<p>Gravitating toward stories “fundamentally about relationships,” Cocchi wrote nightly from 8 to 10 pm in the same spot on her couch with her dog beside her. “It became a creative ritual that I looked forward to every day,” she tells us. She completed the manuscript in exactly one year and soon signed with Sanford J. Greenburger Associates. By February 2025, she had secured a two‑book deal with Kensington Books.</p>
During the final career fair I wound up connecting with a recruiter from Hearst, which led to my first full‑time job.”
How SPI Helped Shape Her Path
<p>Prior to becoming a published author, SPI offered Cocchi critical insights into the book industry. She first learned about SPI from a professor at Villanova, where she’d earned her undergraduate degree. “The [SPI] program felt like the perfect bridge between school and my first adult job,” she explains. The program’s dual focus on book and magazine publishing matched her interests, and a few of her fellow SPI participants “remain some of [her] closest friends to this day.”</p>
<p>Keep an eye out for Cocchi’s second novel which expands upon the world of <i>Have a Great Summer</i> in 2027. “It’s a mix of the Jersey shore and Hoboken,” she reveals, “and if you’re into tropes—enemies to lovers!”</p>