An E-mail from Pairs

    Like many lovers of books, Mary and her husband, Richard Goldman, s{#blank#}1{#/blank#}walked past a bookstore without stopping to look inside. They often talked of opening their own store one day

    In o{#blank#}2{#/blank#}to realize their wish, they started by talking to bookstore owners and researching(调查) the industry. One figure caught their attention：they'd read some-where that roughly 20 percent of books sold were mysteries(推理小说) , and many buyers spent more than $ 300 a year on books. Mary and Richard were t{#blank#}3{#/blank#}mystery readers and owned a big collection of such books.

    On Halloween 1992, they opened the Mystery Lovers Bookshop and Cafe near their home. With three children in college, it was i{#blank#}4{#/blank#}for the couple to spend all the family's money to start a shop. To cover the whole $ 100, 000 cost, they drew some of their savings, borrowed from relatives and from a bank.

    The store broke even in its first year, with only $120, 000 in sales. But Mary was always coming up with new ways to a{#blank#}5{#/blank#}customers. The shop had a coffee bar and it offered gifts to mystery lovers and served dinners for book clubs that met in the store. She also invited dozens of writers to d{#blank#}6{#/blank#}their stories. Today Mystery Lovers makes sales of about $ 420, 000 a year. After paying taxes, business costs and the six part-time sales clerks, Richard and Mary together earn about $ 34, 000

    "The job you love may not go hand in hand with a million-dollar income," says Richard. "This has always been about an e{#blank#}7{#/blank#}life for ourselves, not about making a lot of money."