“Can Your Passions Save You? Series 2: What do Passions Bring You?”

Are you sick to death of your job? Are you one of the many Americans who just hate getting up in the morning and having to deal with whatever day you think you might have ahead? I used to be like you, dreading even waking up. I used to think there was no hope and I could barely go outside to find it. I’m here to tell you there is hope.
Hope is energy. Hope is an unlimited supply of force that propels you forward when nothing was there before. How I got my hope, wasn’t from a pill or my favorite pastry, it was from my passion for writing. My passions are what gave me hope when I thought I had none. Even writing this to you now I feel scared. I’m scared of tomorrow and of what will happen. My hope is the light that pushes that fear away, my hope is fueled by my passions.
Writing is not my only passion. Health, beauty, and the environment are also things in life I feel inspire and motivate me. I try to use them in conjunction with my main passion, writing, to get the most out of my talents. Everyone has talents. You, reading this, may have a talent no one else has. Perhaps you’re the best at this one thing, or good at many things. In my book, Can Your Passions Save You?, I guide you through, step by step, what it takes to identify and harness your passions.
The world is meant to be full of meaning and purpose. When you’ve lost your purpose you feel frustrated, in darkness. Let me help you, through my story, learn to help yourself, push yourself through the tough times. Some things are meant to only be healed through time, the trick is lasting until you reach that point. Your passions will help you last. I can guide you in your search for your passions to truly know what you’re meant to do and how you’re meant to do it. The ride of course, is unknown. You don’t know how you’ll get there, or even when, but with determination and your passions showing you the way, you’ll be able to withstand all the trials and tribulations. All you have to do is spend $5.
I know what you must be thinking, this is a tough economy. Why should you waste $5 on a book when you spend that on food? It’s because food will only nourish your body, my book can help nourish your soul. I don’t sugar coat anything in my story, I tell you the facts, what really happened, and how my passions truly saved me. I wrote Can Your Passions Save You? because I saw so many people out there confused about what to do in life and feeling bored. I wanted to contribute something to this world that could actually benefit people in the long run.
So don’t spend those $5 on a game you’re only going to play for a couple of days, a ringtone you like, or your morning coffee, spend it on something that will work for a lifetime. Ten years from now you can look back at my book, your own life, and see how you’ve grown and changed. You can do anything you set your mind to. I’m living proof. I was a suicidal college dropout. Now, in just three years, I have my Bachelor’s in English, and  I wrote three books, all with no help from anyone, just relying on my passions. Believe in your power, believe in the world, and most of all believe there is hope.

Bless you,
Rosemary Jasmine Rivera

If you wish to purchase my book, please go here.

“Can Your Passions Save You? Series 8: You Say What Now?”

I don’t know about you, but I used to not be very assertive. I was the quiet one who kept saying sorry even when someone bumped into me. I was the good girl who always did what she was told and never questioned anything. Now I speak my mind and let it be known how I feel. How do you think I was able to do that?
Life is pretty simple if you think about it. You live in some sort of shelter, you “hunt” for food, you go to the bathroom, find a possible mate, and maybe reproduce. The problem is we, the human race, aren’t simple. We aren’t like tigers who just live by themselves or monkeys who fight for territory. We are domesticated, social beings who have to talk our way into not only getting what we want, but also helping and connecting with others.That’s where the whole being assertive comes into play.
Being assertive means being clear with your intentions, wants, and needs. There’s no round about way when you’re assertive. You say it like it is without putting behind it, any strong emotions. Some people confuse being assertive with being angry or standing up for one’s self. That’s something different. The key to successfully showing what you want is owning up to the responsibility you have of interacting with another person who has the same goal as you of expressing wants and needs and being able to state without being overly emotional or critical, how you’re going to go about doing it. I’ll give you an example.
Lady A goes to Mr. B at a cafe and asks him for some coffee. She explains she find him attractive and wants to talk. Mr. B doesn’t want to, but also doesn’t want to hurt her feelings. He tries to play it nice and just nods. Lady A takes it as a yes and continues to flirt with him. This gets him upset and he forces himself to realize he has to state clearly what he wants from her.
Mr. B explains to her that although she is a nice, young woman, he does not feel the same way and doesn’t want to talk to her anymore. Even if the woman is offended, she sees his face and body language and understands there’s no point in continuing and leaves. Real life isn’t going to be this easy all the time, but you’ll be surprised how easy it is to get what you want when you clearly state it with tact and honesty.
In my book, Can Your Passions Save You?, I show you how you can learn to be assertive by developing a stronger sense of self. How can you tell people what you want, when you don’t know what you want? Your passions are your fingerprint, they’ll guide you to your true desires and in turn help you have a deeper understanding of self. Tell the world what you want, you’ll be surprised with the outcome.

Bless you,
Rosemary Jasmine Rivera

Click here to buy the book

“Can Your Passions Save You? Series 7: Don’t Believe in Luck”

Funny how when you least expect it, something lucky happens. Yep, you get a package in the mail of a duplicate order of your favorite shirt you just bought online and you weren’t charged twice for it. I’m here to tell you that kind of stuff will never happen if you wish for it. Probability is the name of the game when it comes to certain things, and that is much more helpful to you then expecting some random occurrence. That’s why it’s random, randomness can’t be expected.
Why am I bringing this up? It’s because a lot of people, me included, rely on luck to help us through certain things in life without realizing luck has nothing to do with it. If it’s a test you hope you didn’t flunk even though you didn’t study for, or a chance meeting with Mr. Right at a club full of dirt bags, you just can’t count on luck for bupkiss. I never knew what bupkiss meant. Is that even a word? Luck would have it I don’t have my phone with me to check. See what I’m getting at?
Probability is what some people (like me) mistake for luck. If you know all about probability, you’ll know the trick to getting a desired income with probability is setting yourself up to have the best chances. That means understanding the rules of the game, following them, and acquiring as many resources as needed. A good instance would be, being a chef.
Let’s say you want to be a world famous chef. You see a flier that says win a chance to work for a famous chef, just enter the contest. You sit there and hope that someday you’ll make it, maybe even wish for Wolfgang Puck to show up to your door and say work for his kitchen. Some time passes and nothing happens. You don’t win. Now you’re short $10 and no where close to being a world famous chef.
You’ve had enough of daydreaming and decide to apply for culinary school. You get in and even get financial aid. You work hard and sure enough get a local gig at a new restaurant and become a chef. Then you decide to master a signature dish and ask a famous blogger to feature it. You butter him up, wow him with your skill and he grants your request. Now everyone sees what an amazing chef you are. But that didn’t happen with luck. It happened with probability, it happened with passion.
Can Your Passions Save You is my book that shows you how you can use your passions to never rely on dumb luck again. It’s funny, the minute you stop relying on luck, it just comes to you in the most wonderful ways. Your passions can put you back into the driver seat of your journey and will allow to have those wonderful, dumb luck moments. Rely on yourself and believe in creating your own “luck”.

Remember, life is about dealing with what comes to you. Stop trying to guess what will happen and do it.

Bless You,
Rosemary Jasmine Rivera
Click here for book

“Can Your Passions Save You? Series 6: Return of the Bulge”

Obesity sucks, especially because when people look at an obese person they think, “Man she let herself go.” You don’t want to be like that, no one does. The problem is more and more women are turning to purging and fasting to keep slim. Is it worth that number on the scale? Do you feel like you just can’t control it? I’m here to tell you, you can.
I myself have dealt with Bulimia. It used to get worse the more stressed out I got. Even though I’m still recovering, I learned to be happy with my body regardless of how “big” or “small” I am. Let me tell you, it’s worked. Without being so obsessed with being a certain weight, I managed to keep my weight stable for the past 2 years. I’m not going to lie and say I don’t go back to old habits every now and then, but it’s not as bad as it was before.
One of the ways I was able to curb my disorder was my passions for health and writing. I researched what a healthy diet consists of and I wrote down a lot of the anxieties and worries that were plaguing me. It gave me peace of mind to know I could still get better even though I was so obsessed with the whole binge, purge cycle. When I finally expressed how I felt through writing, it made me have a sense of relief and understanding. I wrote down my thoughts on being thin and how I planned to do it. I even vowed never to be Bulimic again.  I realized it’s not realistic to tell yourself you will never binge or purge.
Life is a constant flow of randomness and uncertainty. You never know what will or can happen. What you can do is set realistic goals so when you regress, it will not be so damaging to you. I remember I used to set insane goals for weight loss. I told myself I would lose 30 lbs in 30 days. I was setting myself up for failure. When the pressure got to me, I snapped and GAINED 5 lbs. Now I tell myself, today I’m just going to be active and eat healthy, who cares if I lose. Guess what, I actually ended up losing a few pounds.
Let me show you how you can identify your passions to at least get you started on developing a stronger sense of self to combat that twisted self image you may have. My book, Can Your Passions Save You?, consists of ten chapters interwoven with my true story to show you how to deal with obstacles, set backs, and self esteem. Have faith you have the power to change your life, because at the end of the day, you’re the one who holds the key. You can be the beautiful person that you already are on the inside, by being kind to yourself on the outside. Show the world you’re a force of light.

Open the door to a better tomorrow by helping yourself today.
Bless You,
Rosemary Jasmine Rivera
Click here for the book

“Can Your Passions Save You? Series 5: Learning When to Let Go”

You just cheated on your diet or skipped class, or even worse, are stuck in a troubled relationship. You’re pulling your hair attempting to comprehend why you’re doing this and you can’t think of anything to explain it. You’re anxious and nervous and worrying about tomorrow. How do you fix it? How can you learn to let go?
I’m not a magician. I can’t instantly relieve your fears or bad habits. I can however assist you in becoming aware of what it is that’s going on. I was there in the same place you are in now, holding on for dear life. I’m here to tell you that when I finally began to let go, it was the proudest moment of my life; it can be the same for you.
The first step to letting go is knowing what it is that kept you hanging on in the first place.
How can you achieve that? Easy, I’ll walk you through it. Imagine the one instant in your life that makes your stomach turn. Each time you even think about it, it creates this heaviness inside you, where you feel tired and apathetic. Pull that memory out and into a box. Now imagine the happiest dream you’ve ever had. One where you felt complete and connected. Take that box holding the bad memory and open it inside the happy dream. When you open it, picture the box containing absolutely nothing.
Why would the box holding your worst feelings about something, contain nothing? It’s because that memory is in the past. It can’t exist anywhere else. If you stay in the past, that memory will be alive as ever and will grow and consume you. But if you put it in a box and move on, it can’t exist anymore. It’ll be confined to that box. What’s so powerful about a box?
Picture the box as your passions. The key that holds the power to confining those dark memories. In my book, Can Your Passions Save You?, I’ll show you through my own experience how to let go of your past and finally move on. It’s going to take a while for that box to have nothing inside, but the first step is the most important. Let me offer you that first step. Change is never easy, but when you get there, it’s the most amazing feeling.
Lastly, don’t be ashamed if you think about your past every now and then. We all look back and wonder, what if? You just have to snap out of it and keep going, no matter what. Let your passions get you there.

So quit holding on to things that are bad for you, and embrace your passions.
Bless You,
Rosemary Jasmine Rivera
Click here for the book.

"Can Your Passions Save You? Series 4: Accepting Responsibility"

You are the captain in the boat that is your life. You command in which direction your mast will be pointed towards. (Don’t start thinking perverted.) You control which crew mates can come on board and how fast you want your ship to go. So what happens when you stop being the captain of your ship?
From my personal experience, when I stopped taking control of my life, I stopped caring about it. I didn’t care how I dressed, how I looked, how I ate. All I cared about was being numb. All I cared about was how to get numb. Nothing else mattered to me.
That was a large chunk of my life. If you’re like me and feel that way right now, you have to look in the mirror and accept what is and take back control. Be responsible for your actions today. It doesn’t matter if you falter and stumble. As long as you claim what you’ve done and to whom you’ve done it to, even if it’s just yourself at first, that’s enough to move you forward. Really, progress isn’t based on achievement, but rather the courage to move past all that was.
You’re past could have been full of pain and despair. You could have been born with a rusted knife in your mouth instead of a silver spoon. That doesn’t mean it has to dictate how you’re going to be for the rest of your life. I’ll admit, when you have a bad start, it’s really difficult getting your bearings. You can’t give up. You can’t lose control of what makes you, you. Hard lives must be lived through patience.
The best way to learn patience is by being able to harness and focus on what you can do and let go of what’s out of your control. You can’t dictate the status of the weather or how a person will receive you. Don’t worry about that because at the end of the day, that’s out of your zone of ability. What you can do is put on a raincoat, wear your favorite outfit, and smile at whoever you’re facing. That is the key to accepting responsibility and moving on with your life.
My book, Can Your Passions Save You? deals with owning up to your actions and finding ways to continue. Passions can and will give you back your steering wheel to life because they are your deepest desires. They are the road maps to who you truly are. Let me just say, deep down, you’re an amazing person. We all are.

Let go of the past, move forward to your destiny.
Bless You,
Rosemary Jasmine Rivera

Click here for the Book

“Can Your Passions Save You? Series 3: Getting up When You’ve Fallen Down”

I can’t tell you how many times people have told me they’ve had it, they’ve made one too many mistakes and are done with it all. I get it, I make mistakes all the time. I make a fool of myself from never understanding advice given to me or never reading the instructions. I’m sure you have flubbed often yourself with a project for work or school or asking a person you like out on a date. The world it seems, is chock full of mistakes.
So what if it’s a world of mistakes? I love mistakes; you  want to know why? It’s because mistakes help a person grow and learn. You can’t learn from a mistake unless you understand what happened to make it and how to not repeat it again. If you’re stuck in the mistake and refuse to move on, you’ll be stagnant and still. In life that is the WORST thing you can do.
Imagine you’re on your couch or bed, and you’re sitting there not moving. People walk past you, a bird flies on your head, and nothing causes you to move. You just stay there motionless for hours. Eventually you stay there for so long your body has decayed. You haven’t eaten, you haven’t bathed, you haven’t even gone to the bathroom. It’s as if you’re a statue. The only thing is, you’re not a statue and this staying still business is killing you.
That’s what you’re doing when you stay stuck on a mistake. The more you ruminate, you focus on that tiny mistake, it becomes the anchor, the root, to an even bigger mistake. Because before, you were just sitting on that bed or sofa, completely fine. Now, after some time has past, you’re almost dead. The question then becomes, what can you do to stop hovering over this mistake and those mistakes in the past? The answer for me was clear.
My passions helped me get over the failures I deemed insurmountable. I used to be a perfectionist, so much so, that I wouldn’t do something in fear of doing it wrong. I was stuck, but my passions forced me to say, “You know what, it doesn’t hurt to try.” You have to try! You’ll  never know what’s out there unless you move. Yes you can make more mistakes in the future, and you most likely will because let’s face it, we’re human. But if you keep moving, keep going, no matter what life throws at you, you’ll be okay. Can Your Passions Save You? is my book that I wrote to help you learn to do just that.

So please, let go of staying still and get moving, because the saddest thing about falling down is never getting back up. Get back up, never give up, never give in, not even an inch. When you keep on getting back up, each time will be easier.

Bless you,
Rosemary Jasmine Rivera
Click here for the book

“Pearls of Wisdom Series 8: The Importance of Organic”

Welcome to my series known as: Pearls of Wisdom. This series focuses on a wide variety of topics that will guide you to a better state of being. Sometimes I discuss, in a step by step process, how to do something. Other times I will simply give information about an important topic. Feel free to check the remaining articles from this series in my blog.

I cannot stress how important it is to eat organic in America. In this day and age there are so many foods out there available to the American public that are ladened with chemicals and preservatives. The worst part is, the stuff you'd think is healthy could actually be dangerous to your health. From genetically modified corn and soy to pesticide ridden produce, how are we supposed to stay healthy? The answer is by eating better.

It's not just food that should be organic, it's beauty products as well. The harmful chemicals you're putting on your skin and hair do just as much damage as consuming them. You should always be aware and do your research concerning products you buy. Ironically even the most high end of beauty products can contain petrochemicals and preservatives that do more harm than good.

Let's start with the meaning or organic. I know a lot of food labels out there, including beauty products state their products are organic. It can be very misleading. First, see the percentage of organic items in the ingredients list or on the labels. If it says 100% certified organic, than it's a purely organic product. If that's the case, all the ingredients should have organic before each one. Second, even if it's not 100% organic, and it's just 10% organic, check which ingredients are used. Sulfates due damage to the skin and hair and any emulsifier that is not plant derived tend to come from toxic sources.

Not everyone cares if they have organic beauty products. If that's the case, then please check out the organic section of your supermarket and look for any thin skinned fruits and veggies. Thick skinned fruits like bananas or cantaloupe don't have to be organic because the skin is so thick, most of the pesticides will reside there, not in the pulp. Thin skinned fruits like apples and peaches should be picked organic whenever possible. Two food items that must always be organic is corn and soy. This is because corn and soy are being genetically modified to result in large volume yields. Not only are there pesticides on these two products, but they're not even natural anymore. (Make sure to check food labels to see if it contains corn syrup or soy product. These are used as fillers and are not good for your health.)

Eat Well and Be Healthy! If you liked what you read, be sure to check out my blog.

“Can Your Passions Save You?” Series 1: The Beginning

So here you are browsing the Inter-webs looking for something to keep you busy. Maybe you’re at work or in school, or at home. You have about 15 min to 2 hours worth of free time and figured why not look at some stuff to read. You come across this article and are reading this sentence right now. So, what’s supposed to happen? I’m asking the same question.

Let’s look at it this way. We are here today because our parents made love and decided to have us. Their passion to be with each other conceived and brought to the world a life, ours. So what are we supposed to do now? What are you supposed to do? Some people have that figured out already. They have their passions and their goals aligned and they’re good to go. Others may not be that lucky. Others may have really wanted to be a celebrity or a lady’s man and because of their less than stellar gene pool, have been forced to relinquish their dreams and work a minimum wage job. Or maybe they have an academic goal that seems too far away because there’s no money to pay for it. It could be a disability or even just an innate shyness that prevents them from going for what they truly desire in life. How then, are they supposed to find their way?

I’m not here to tell you I have the answers. I myself am figuring it all out. Like you, I don’t have a road map of where I’m supposed to be in the next year, heck in the next month, so I’m just winging it. There is however something that’s guiding me, albeit I’m still too blind to really see anything. What’s guiding me are my passions. My passions are the beacons of hope and joy that keep the fear at bay long enough to reach out and touch the world. It hasn’t gotten me wealth and power, or even a lot of success, but it has brought me to a point in my life where I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished.


Passions are after all our fingerprint in the world. They are what we leave behind when our life has passed. It’s up to you choose whether to leave a deep, longlasting print, or one that fades in the wind. Sure life hasn’t exactly been easy, but we survived it, we left something behind, even if it’s just our name. Now we should leave more. We’re alive you know. We’re breathing, we’re conscious, and we have a chance to really help the world, the people we love, and ourselves. I come to ask the question again. What’s supposed to happen now? The answer is, anything you want. Just make sure to choose with your passions in mind. They are what define you, what stays behind after all the chaos, all the pain.

Good luck!

Article by: Rosemary Jasmine Rivera

For more on this series, be sure to check out my blog or buy the book of the same name on Kindle.
Click here

“How to Not Approach a Guy”

To start it off, let me just say I’ve had plenty of awkward moments come my way when I tried to talk to a guy that I liked. I was there, looking like a fool, while the guy tried to practically sign me to death that he wasn’t interested. Did I pay attention, get the hint? Obviously not or I wouldn’t be here writing this to you. I’d be sitting in a cottage somewhere with a hunk of a man with a good set of pipes, getting back rubs, if you know what I mean. So from me to you, here’s my Do nots on how to approach a guy.

Do not tell the guy your background until at least 3 dates in. Why? Easy my dear, because most guys just want to get it in or get out on the first date. They’re trying to size you up. If they see you’re blabbing off on how many boyfriends you cheated on or how lonely you were last week, or that you haven’t had sex in 5 years, they’re going to think you’re a nutcase or worse yet, a one night stand. If they do end up liking you’ll they’ll want to get to know you, but in a slow manner. It’ll be them asking the questions and you wisely answering them.

Do not lie your as$ off to impress or seem interesting. Eventually the truth will come out and you’ll end up looking like a pathological jerk with “issues”. Besides, even if you pull off the charade, it’ll get to you, knowing you can’t be your true self with the guy you’re dating. If a guy really loves you, he’ll love you for you. (The normal you, not the I’m strung up on caffeine and vodka you) As cheesy as that sounds, it is so true.

Do not be a doormat with your guy. He already has a mother, he doesn’t need two. Remember those suburban 50‘s housewives who dress all spiffy and wait for their man to come home and take off his shoes and prepare his meals? Well it’s 2011 and I’m pretty sure the word “spiffy” isn’t used anymore. So take off that apron and grab him by the horns, or horn.

Do not go into a relationship with low self esteem. This is probably the single biggest Don’t in the history of all Dont’s evar! Men love confident women who know what they want and where they want to do it. Obviously you can’t be too self absorbed or too egotistic, but if your man of interest sees you love yourself and carry yourself with grace and integrity, he’ll think twice before being a jerk to you. You can set limits as to how people treat you. You are the master of you’re life.

Thanks for reading and hopefully you learned a little on how to not approach a guy

Written by: Rosemary Jasmine Rivera

“Oh Hunger Games, where for art thou, are you the new Twilight?”

Remember when Harry Potter used to be the Fantasy movie we went to go see. We would read onward in the books or wait til the films release to watch Hermione and Ron’s countdown til they kissed? Perhaps you recall the first time Lord Voldemort appeared on screen, all bald, ugly, and in dire need of a spray tan? Well that time has passed and now we’re moving forward. This year brought the end of the 8 movie epic-Ness that was the Harry Potter saga to a close. Before we could blink, looks like Twilight’s twinkle twinkle is ending soon as well. So what do we have to look forward too? I don’t know, maybe a death match televised where 24 kids aged 12-18 fight to the death?

From the bestselling novels of Suzanne Collins comes The Hunger Games saga. A trilogy of books that became so popular it’s following the Fantasy trilogy suit and jumping on to the big screen. Looks like it carries the makings of being a blockbuster hit with a movie sequel already anticipated November 22, 2013. It’s certainly peeked the interest of critics who think of it as an almost “perfect adventure novel”. Even Stephen King, who hated Twilight, liked what Suzanne had to offer. It’s amazing to think she created it by merging the idea of a reality TV show with raw footage from Iraq.

The Hunger Games is all about violence, love, and entertainment as audience members choose favorites and aide them during the ordeal by sending them gifts such as food and medicine. Katniss, a fatherless girl from district 12 begins a romantically pandering love affair with her fellow district 12 player, Peeta. Will they make it? Will they not have to kill one another? Well obviously most of you reading this know because the book is so popular. Let’s just say (no worries, no spoilers here) they have a chance at making babies in the end.

I’ve personally read it and, even though I’m not a big reader, I quite enjoyed the story. My favorite Oscar nominated actress from “Winter’s Bone”, Jennifer Lawrence, is starring as Katniss. Ever since I saw her skin a squirrel in her hit movie, I knew she’d get picked for the role. So there you have it, a micro retelling in just a few paragraphs of the soon to be massive hit known as “The Hunger Games”. (the movie)

Written by: Rosemary Jasmine Rivera

“How to make an eBook using Mobipocket Creator and OpenOffice.org writer, Part 2“

Hi there, my name is Rosemary and I write books. For the longest time I didn't know how to make my own eBook and now with a little “trial and error" I've managed to learn to create my own interactive eBooks. I haven’t the money to purchase Microsoft word so I use the free OpenOffice.org writer. Here is my tutorial to show you how to do it.

(If you haven’t seen Part 1, I strongly encourage you to check it out. You’ll be very lost if you’re just attempting an eBook without having an interactive table of contents. The steps it takes to create it involve Hyper-linking the chapters and using an outline. This is achieved by applying headings to the titles of each chapter. This is a basic demonstration involving the standard style and function in creating an eBook.)

Step 1: Now that you have an HTML file saved of your book with a Hyper-linked table of contents, you have to turn it into an eBook. The first step is downloading and opening Mobipocket Creator. (No worries it’s free) Open Mobipocket Creator.

Step2: Look at the Mobipocket Creator application home page and see “Import from existing file" and go down to “HTML document". Import your saved HTML document containing your eBook and make sure the destination folder is different from the location you kept your original HTML file. You do not want to use your original in case something goes wrong. Use the copy created in the new folder.

Step 3: Go to the menu option, “View” and scroll down to “Guide”. Click “new guide item” and select under ”Type” the word “toc”. Then hit browse and use the copy of the HTML you made. Then at the end of the file name type #toc

(It should look like this: example.html#toc )

Click “new guide item" Do the same thing again except this time under “Type” choose the word “start”.

(It should look like this: example.html#start )

Step 4: Click Update

Step 5: Go to the menu option on the left hand side: Cover Image. Click “Add a cover Image”, browse, choose your image file then click Update.

Please note: This is just for a simple eBook. If you want to get fancier with it, I suggest you fiddle around with the styles and see what you like.

Step 6: Click on the menu option: “Build”. If you want to encrypt it, it’s up to you. For the purposes of this example, click “standard compression” and “no encryption”. Then hit “Build”.

Congratulations, you now have an eBook with an interactive table of contents.

So long!:D

Click here for part 1!

Article by: Rosemary Jasmine Rivera

“How to make an eBook using Mobipocket Creator and OpenOffice.org writer, Part 1”

Hi there, my name is Rosemary and I write books. For the longest time I didn't know how to make my own eBook and now with a little “trial and error" I've managed to learn to create my own interactive eBooks. I haven’t the money to purchase Microsoft word so I use the free OpenOffice.org writer. Here is my tutorial to show you how to do it.

Step 1: Write your book, this is an important one. You have to proof it and line edit before you convert your .doc file into a .html. Do not number your pages because eBooks don’t require it, especially on kindle.

Step 2: Use Heading styles for your chapters and title. You can do this by going to “Formatting” then scrolling down to “Style and Formatting”. A small window will appear and the list of headings will be shown. From here you can pick “Heading 1-Heading 10“. For all intensive purposes, let’s just put Heading 1 for the title of the book and Heading 2 for the introduction and chapter titles. You can modify the style of each Heading by simply right clicking modify in the Style and Formatting window.

Step 3: Once you have the chapters and title properly formatted, then proceed to pick out an empty space before your chapter and/or introduction. Go to “insert”. Scroll down to “indexes and tables” then go across to “indexes and tables” and click on it. Choose “Table of Contents” and go to the bar near “Index/Table” and check out “Entries”. (Note. For any eBook you want there to be hyper-links for each chapter so the option of having a table of contents is crucial in creating a successful eBook.)

Step 4: Now that you’re in the “Entries” section of the window box, mouse over the little letter boxes near the word “structure” above the button “chapter no.” Mouse over the buttons to reveal what they are for. It should be “Chapter #”, “Entry”, “Tab Stop”, and “Page #”. You do not want “Page #” , instead you want “Hyperlink”. Click on the “#” button and click on the “Hyperlink” button below. Now the "#” button should be replaced with the “LS”. Next, click on the empty space before “E#” and click “Hyperlink” button again. An “LE” button should appear before the “E#”. Repeat this step for “level” 2 by going to the left side where “structure” is and clicking 2 beneath the “level”. If you used more headings repeat for each additional heading style you used. (ie. level 3, level 4)

Step 5: Go back to “Index/Table” bar and move to “Evaluate up to” level section. Put it to 2 or whichever Heading you stopped at. If you stopped at Heading 3, then put it to 3. Click okay.

Step 6: Right, so now you have a Hyper-linked table of contents. You need to put bookmarks in order for Mobi creator to know where the table of contents are and where the start of your chapters is. So simply go to the start of your table of contents and click a space right before. Go to “insert” and scroll down to “bookmark”. Then input “toc” hit okay. Go to the start of your chapter 1 and click the space right before it. Go back to “insert”, then scroll down to “bookmark”, select and type in “start”. There you go, now save as a .html file.

For part 2 click here.

Article by: Rosemary Jasmine Rivera