Greg Eddolls is a husband, a father, an internet marketing expert, a Christian, and now he has become an author. His first book The Glorious Battle: Road Map To Armageddon took many years to write, but now he finally has it out there for all to read. The book itself concerns the “end of days”– the coming of the anti-Christ and the final battle between good and evil. Greg has spent many years piecing together all available information to give an in-depth study of how events may take place. Greg has already had great success with his book. I asked him over to Novel Ideas, but not just to talk about the book– I wanted you to meet the man behind the keyboard. Greg Eddolls, step forward!
Q) Hey, Greg! You are a San Diego kid like my wife-to-be, right?
A) Yes, I was born at Scripps Hospital in La Jolla, California; born and raised about twenty miles inland in Mira Mesa which is a suburb of San Diego. I moved away with family to Prescott Arizona when I was 19. I spent a lot of time from about 13 years old to 19…surfing at Black’s Beach, Del Mar, Torrey Pines and other awesome Southern Cali surf spots.
Q) Pretty awesome time to be alive then? Beach Boys fan? Surfing? Sunshine?
A) I was not quite old enough to be a Beach Boys fan. I was born in 1973. I came of age in the ’80’s. I went to public school until 4th grade. I was in “special ed”– you know, where you kick the red bouncy ball around? While everyone else was in school, I was being “special.”
Then, I went to Catholic School from 5th to 8th grade. Back to public school from 9th to 12th, finally graduating in 1991. I was a very average student.
Q) Why were you in special ed? You are obviously incredibly intelligent (sorry, I will now remove my arm from your ass…) but it’s a true statement! Your book is an immense study and took a lot of research and work.
A) (Laughs) You know, people with learning disabilities that do not fit the system ARE very intelligent. They just don’t fit the mold. When I was around 12 years old, my father told me that I march to a different drum than everyone else. And though that is surely true for every unique human being, it might have been exceptionally true for me. I was very emotionally turbulent and sensitive. Not sure why, but it makes for sensitive relationship qualities. My wife is happy about that.
Q) I was always a true Aquarius and that drove my teachers wild– I would never conform! So what happened after your education? The yellow brick road to wealth and fame? Early retirement and a book?
A) Let’s see…after high school, I went to the college of hard knocks. I tried self-employment, started a carpet cleaning business (of all things) with my brother. It was back breaking work. That lasted about six years before I had had enough of that. Then I bounced from job to job. I worked as a busser at a restaurant, Pizza Delivery guy, Teacher Assistant, Wireless Communications Consultant, and several other menial jobs that never paid very well. I took a strong interest (again) in computers around 1997.
I decided ten years after high school graduation that I would go to college (2001) to get an actual degree in something that would pay well. I chose Computer Information Systems. I graduated just short of Cum Laude (3.49 GPA) from Devry University Phoenix with a B.S. in C.I.S. You know, I always thought how odd that “B.S.” stands for something else too… B*** S***. There is more truth to that, I think.
Q) From that statement, I get the feeling that you don’t think education is essential?
A) Well, I say that partly in jest because I DID get an overall baseline of education in computer information systems. But what I truly learned at college is, firstly, any institution run by human beings is going to be totally screwed up no matter what; and secondly, that if I wanted to make a decent living that I had to be responsible for my own future. It was then that I began on the path of improvement, hoping for a good job that never materialized, and settling for much less in the small town of Prescott Valley, Arizona.
I worked for my brother who also owned a computer repair business, and I worked for several other computer store owners around town, all the while building a small base of faithful computer customers for whom I do consulting. My primary job (working for my brother’s business) dried up in 2007. My own business was not enough to support my family. It was on my 35th birthday that I found myself on a big jet plane on my way to a whole new experience and faith building adventure in Columbus, Ohio, where a Network Administrator job had opened up. It was the only open door, so I took it.
Q) You obviously play down your later success. What happened next? You went from a job that was the only open door available to becoming a successful internet marketing expert with a host of websites and avenue streams.
A) I don’t need to go into all the details. I have had a reasonable amount of success in internet marketing, but I am truly excited to be marketing my own products, and also to be interfacing with professionals like you who are pursuing their dreams and accomplishing their goals with internet marketing and social networking.
Q) Now, of course, you are marketing your own book, correct?
A) Yes, indeed– my book is my baby right now. I am having a reasonable amount of success with it.
Q) Okay, turning away from business, let’s talk about the writing process for you. How do you like to write? What gets you into the groove?
A) Well, I found out the hard way that I truly needed to have an outline. The subject of Biblical Prophecy is quite complicated to think about, much less organize and discuss in an orderly format. Before I had created an outline, I ended up writing myself into circles. I also like to read it out loud to make sure what I am writing is not overly repetitive.
For this particular subject, the writing process took nine years. Even though I have studied this subject for twenty years, when I started nine years ago, I realized that I did not understand the intricate details of the prophetic scriptures. I would try a theory on for size, begin writing about it, and studying it as a type of “digestive” process. I came to realize that this theory or idea about scripture that I had did not line up with all scriptures. This writing process is a thorough explanation of the reason how Biblical Prophecy is laid out. It is therefore a lengthy process to be undertaken by one mind. That is why it took nine years. Sometimes I had to go back to the drawing board and go figure out more details before I could come back and start writing the book again.
Q) How did it feel to be writing a book about such an incredibly explosive subject? Did it occur to you whilst writing the book that you could cause controversy?
A) I think the idea was supernaturally inspired…plus I like to write about deep stuff anyway. Having been in forums and blogs, which are much shorter in their attention span, I have argued and debated with so many people about the nature of Bible Prophecy, always finding that the forum or blog format is way too small to encompass the complexity of the subject with reasonable attention.
The subject of Bible Prophecy is much better suited to teaching over a period of time or within the large context of an entire book. So I started writing it. I have argued the subject so many times I really have decided that controversy will happen wherever there is an opinion. So be it.
Q) I guess the next logical question, Greg, is a simple one. How did you become interested in this subject?
A) Around the age of 17 I started getting very interested in the ideas of “New Age” spirituality. The thing that primarily drew my attention was the idea of prophecy. New Agers have a whole huge section of their own pertaining to prophecy, earth changes, and the idea that those who are enlightened or illuminated should be looking for the shift in consciousness that is coming to the world. The result would be a shift from the 3rd dimension to the 4th or 5th dimension. Of course, no one prophecy could seem to nail down which dimension it would be. It was assumed that these changes would be coming soon.
At the same time, I was sick and tired of living in rote, ritualistic, empty religious practice. I was seeking something with meaning, something that meant something HERE and NOW. New Age Prophecy was promising that kind of spiritual reality, so I was ALL OVER IT.
Q) How long did you spend studying “New Age” spirituality, Greg?
A) I spent about four years pursuing New Age. In the process, I discovered the realm of Spirit through the use of shamanistic type practices and use of hallucinogenics. Then one day, a friend of ours walked into our hippie hole, where twelve of us lived in a two-bedroom apartment more than happy to subsist on a shoestring budget and free to explore the dangerous realms of the occult in several varied aspects.
Q) You lived the “hippie” lifestyle– how did you get back into conventional religious studies?
A) My friend invited us to a bible study on the Book of Revelation being put on by his mother. He was recently saved by Jesus himself. He was faithfully spreading the gospel.
We went to the bible study with the intention of educating this mother on the true nature of spirituality. To my great surprise, eleven out of the twelve of us that went (including myself), ended up receiving Christ that night and being born again. That night, I had the fear of hell and the hope of eternal life with God revealed in my heart, and since that time, I have been fascinated with the subject of Biblical Prophecy and what it means for every soul on earth.
Q) Looking back, Greg– what do you think of “New Age” religion now?
A) New Age prophecies have been most definitely revealed as the false claims they truly are, and the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been revealed in all knowledge in the Spirit of God, in my heart, and now in many of those around me, as we continue to proclaim the truth to all those we meet.
Q) It would be safe to say that you have very personal reasons for writing this book. Has completing this book been a big achievement for you? Perhaps the biggest in your life?
A) I have to say it really is the culmination of my entire Christian life so far. It has set in motion some plans that only God knows, but of which I am confident that we will be moving forward with ministry, perhaps related to this book, and in other ways. My primary hope is that God will provide what we need to be free of debt (that we created) and to be able to freely travel the country–even the world–to minister the truth of the Gospel to those who want to know the Revelation of Jesus Christ.
Q) I guess one of the biggest questions I get as a promoter of writers is a simple one: How do I get the word out there about my book(s)? As a successful internet marketing expert, Greg– what would your advice be?
A) Well, my absolute favorite tool is Facebook– specifically Facebook Groups. I have written a post about it which gives a detailed view about my process but I can summarize it like this. Use Facebook Groups!
Q) How has your own marketing worked for you?
A) Let’s see. The book has been out for about 5 weeks in e-book formats including Kindle, Epub, PDF, LRF, Palm Device, TXT, and RTF. I finished that first. When I began pushing digital books, I sold about 9 direct sale digital copies from my website in the first week. I have sold about 10 Kindle Copies directly from Amazon Kindle.
I found that many people wanted to have a print copy in their hands so I worked hard to release in print. That happened around 3 weeks ago. Since then, I have sold about 20 print copies directly from my website and local to friends and family. I have sold perhaps 3 copies on Amazon.com. So altogether, I have sold about 40+ copies.
Now, my biggest challenge is to work out the acquisition of more books for physical sale. I get more money from the direct sales locally or through PayPal on my website. So I desire to work out the budget from each sale, what is the percentage I reinvest for more books, what do I save, and what can I spend from my hard-earned profits. I have not quite gotten those number down yet, but I have made about $500.00 gross from my sales so far.
Considering that it took me less than $100.00 to complete the whole publishing process, that’s about 400% profit so far on the original investment.
Q) How does it feel to look back and remember being in “special” class…. and NOW have a hit book and a career? That must bring so much satisfaction!
A) I think I got over being “special” a long time ago. However, most of my life I have been less than “affluent” financially. I certainly can not complain about what God has blessed me with: a beautiful family, awesome wife, awesome friends. I have never had much, but it has never mattered in the long run. Perhaps, having been this way for so long, I have learned that I can be this way and it’s okay. I have so much more than many other third world folks who are thankful simply to be alive.
God is doing a NEW THING in my life. AMEN
Q) Thank you for your time, Greg!
A) Not a problem, Nick! I love your new site!
Greg is already touted to be one of the guys who will pioneer the use of Facebook book promotion. You can find his Facebook group here. I am also a part of that revolution. If you want a marketer and you don’t know who to call… Call Greg Eddolls. The Glorious Battle: Road Map To Armageddon is available now.
You must log in to post a comment.