An E-mail from Pairs

    Like many lovers of books, Mary and her husband, Richard Goldman, swalked past a bookstore without stopping to look inside. They often talked of opening their own store one day

    In oto 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 tmystery 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 ifor 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 acustomers. 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 dtheir 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 elife for ourselves, not about making a lot of money."