The entrepreneur: Sarah O'Leary Burningham, 26, is a publicity manager at a book publisher in New York City.

The venture: In her spare time, Ms. Burningham is writing a nonfiction humor book, tentatively titled, "How to Raise Your Parents: A Teen Survival Guide." It's expected to be published by Chronicle Books, a San Francisco publisher, in spring 2007.

The idea: When Ms. Burningham was a teenager, there was a running joke in her family: She'd tell her parents they didn't know what they were doing, and the joke became that she should write a book about how teenagers could raise their parents.

One day, she mentioned this when she and a friend were discussing what they'd write about if they were to write a book. Her friend loved the idea, she says.

Ms. Burningham says she had been seeking a creative outlet. "Writing books full time has always been a dream, but I love my job, and, plus, I am not brave enough to quit," she says.

Money was another motivator. She and her husband have wanted to buy an apartment since moving to New York from Utah two years ago. "To come from owning a house to renting a small apartment that costs twice as much as my house payments was a shock," she says.

Getting started: The first step was to put together a book proposal. She'd never seen one, let alone written one. Despite working in publishing, the editorial side of the business was foreign to her. "In publicity, we get the books when they are pretty much done and send them out to the media," she says.

Through a friend, she was able to get her hands on a sample and studied the format.

She also had to find a book agent. She wanted one who worked with similar books. She began researching agents and settled on Djana Pearson Morris, founder and a partner of Pearson Morris & Belt, a literary agency in Washington, D.C. Ms. Morris also helped shape her proposal, reordering chapters and making other suggestions.

To plan the chapters, Ms. Burningham sent out a 12-point questionnaire to teenagers on subjects ranging from the cause of their biggest fights with their parents to what parents say that drives them crazy. She called on her sister and brother -- both in high school -- as well as friends and co-workers to pass along the questionnaire to teenagers they knew. To encourage full disclosure, it promised to not use respondents' names.

The responses were more than Ms. Burningham hoped for, with teenage discourses on everything from dating to myspace.com. Armed with anecdotes, she began putting together her proposal in the spring of 2005. She finished by August, and her agent sent it out after Labor Day.

The pitfalls: Her first few responses were rejections. For Ms. Burningham, this was the most difficult part of the project.

"It might sound trite, but you really have to prepare yourself for rejection and push on," she said. "You just can't let yourself give up after one rejection."

She got the offer from Chronicle books in October.

Ms. Burningham says she was glad to have an agent to negotiate the contract, given the back-and-forth about royalties and foreign rights. "These were things I had no idea about," she says.

Time management has been another challenge. With deadlines looming, she says, she devotes 15 to 20 hours a week to the book. Ms. Burningham says it's half complete and due in August.

The payoff: Her advance is in the mid-five digits, Ms. Burningham says, declining to specify the amount. The sum is typical for a first-time nonfiction writer, she says. She was paid half when she signed her contract and will receive the rest when she hands in the completed manuscript. Her royalty rate is on a sliding scale, she says, declining to disclose it. Her agent is paid 15% of the advance and royalties.

More importantly, she says, the book has been the creative release she was looking for.

The future: Ms. Burningham says she is hooked on writing books. "I find myself writing down ideas all the time, even though nothing will come of 99% of them," she says.

Still, she says, she loves her day job and plans to continue book writing on the side.