Meet Emily Gaddy, Author of “Go Bulldogs!” and “Roll Tide Roll!” in Gainesville

Today we’d like to introduce you to Emily Gaddy.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I am the author of the book “Go Bulldogs!” and “Roll Tide Roll!” I am going to explain how this story came about from my background, to the idea and how it became published. A little about me I grew up going to UGA football games with my grandparents and my mom. My Grandpa was a Bulldog to his core and my Grandma…well she was there to socialize. My grandparents along with my mom instilled in me the love of reading.

My mom even thought I was reading at a young age because I would “quote” the words to most of my books. They all encouraged me to go to UGA and I graduated with a degree in Finance. After college, I married my husband Shane and I worked in banking for many years. When my first child Clare, who is now 9 years old, was born I decided to stay at home. I then had my son Emmett 4 years later.

I came up with the idea for “Go Bulldogs!” when Emmett was almost 2 and Clare was 5. They were both obsessed with the classic “Go, Dog, Go!” by P.D. Eastman. During this time, Clare was learning to read and this was her first book she read cover to cover. Emmett just LOVED this book! We read this book A LOT in our house!

That fall Shane and I were at a UGA football game. As I was screaming “Goooooo Dawgs, Sic Em”, it popped into my head “Go, Dawgs. Go!” D-A-W-G-S. On the way home, I looked at Shane and said “wouldn’t it be cool if there was a book like “Go, Dog. Go!” that was about UGA?” He was like “whatever”… Over the next few months as I was reading the classic book, I started writing down UGA related lines. I just could not get it out of my mind. I would be driving down the street and pull over to write a line down. I would write lines down in carpool on random pieces of paper in my car. I knew if I didn’t get it on a piece of paper it would leave my mind and never return. Once I had all of my lines, I wrote it down in a notebook in the order that I wanted it to be many, many times. I even made storyboards with stick people as my characters to show how I wanted the book layout. Once I hit a stopping point, I put it away for a few months.

In April 2014, I went to a UGA Alumni event where Mark Richt the former football coach was speaking. My job for the night was to take pictures of Coach Richt with the attendees with their cameras. As I sat there listening to him talk, I knew that I needed to at least try to get my book published. I brought it back out and finished it…only to put it back up until I had the nerve to make the leap. On June 1, 2014, I submitted my idea to Mascot Books. In 3 days, I had a contract for my book to be published. Over the next few weeks, we started the publishing process.

First, Mascot Books took my written work and edited it. They checked my punctuation, my wording and overall flow of the story. I also had to write the dedication, “About the Author” and the “Back Blurb” or summary. After all of the story edits were complete, they gave me the job of picking an illustrator. I went through many options. I knew that I had to find the perfect fit because illustrations are such a large part of a children’s book. When I saw Jason’s drawing of a little white dog, I knew he was the guy for my book.

I wanted my “Bulldog” family to be actual “Bulldogs”, but I wanted him to draw them from people who were part of my UGA experience like caricatures you get at a fair or on the street. The family on the cover of the book are my Grandma and Grandpa, my husband and I and my children Clare and Emmett. I gave him descriptions of how I wanted the illustrations to look. For example, on the cover photo I wanted the Bulldog family in the stands cheering on the team. He sent me sketches first and then we got to color them. I pretty much had say in everything…for example, he put my college girl in flats and I made him change them to heels. After we had the final illustrations set, the publisher made a storyboard. A storyboard is where they put the illustrations with the text that I have written. This is where they decide if a page gets 1, 2, or 3 illustrations.

After the storyboard was complete, we sent it to Collegiate Licensing Company to gain permission to use the University of Georgia as the subject of the book. This process took the longest of any part of making the book. We had to change the title multiple times and take out a few things here and there.

When I finally had all of the licensing, it was ready to print. On May 5, 2015, I opened the box containing the books at Enota MI Academy where my children go to school and had my release party on May 7th. The book’s official release was on June 2nd. It is now available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books A Million, MascotBooks.com, EmilyGaddy.com, UGA Bookstore.

During the 2015 and 2016 football seasons, I visited over 35 schools and spoke to over 10,000 students. While I was taking questions, the students always asked if I would be publishing another book. My answer was always YES! It would be a book about the University of Alabama. In November 2016, I released Roll Tide Roll! It is dedicated to my friend’s son Eli Ligon who is battling stage 4 Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma. Eli’s family helped me with the Alabama traditions and let me transform their faces into elephants. A portion of the profits of this book will be donated to CURE Childhood Research. I recently found out that Roll Tide Roll! Will be in CostCo this fall.

Has it been a smooth road?
The biggest obstacle during the publishing process was getting ‘Go Bulldogs!” approved by the Collegiate Licensing. We had to change the title a few times to get it right.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Emily Gaddy Author of “Go Bulldogs!” and “Roll Tide Roll!” – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
I am the author of two books. I mostly focus on visiting local elementary schools in the fall during football season. I encourage students to write, emphasize the difference between author and illustrator, and describe the publishing process. I have visited over 40 schools as of 2017 season speaking to 15,000+ students.

I am most proud of being able to give back with my second book “Roll Tide Roll!” I dedicated it to a friend’s son, Eli Ligon, who is battling childhood cancer. A percentage of the proceeds of this book are donated to CURE for Childhood Research.

Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I live north of Atlanta, but I love visiting the city. Anything you want to do from sporting events to Broadway plays to concerts are available. The restaurant choices are incredible as well as hotels.

My daughter, Clare, is involved in competitive cheerleading and we spend a lot of time at the World Congress Center and the International Convention Center. It is wonderful to have access to these types of venues so close to home.

Pricing:

• Go Bulldogs! Book $14.95
• Roll Tide Roll! Book $14.95

Contact Info:

• Website: www.emilygaddy.com
• Email: gobulldogsbook@gmail.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gobulldogsbook/

Getting in touch: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.