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Owner's dream is realized in Booked for Murder

Heather Lee Schroeder  —  5/08/2008 7:08 am

Sometimes fate has a way of intervening and making everything work out perfectly. At least that's what Sara Barnes thinks about the events that led to her new career as owner of Booked for Murder, a small independent book shop specializing in mysteries.

Barnes, who purchased the west side bookstore in early April, came to the business through a long and winding route. Her journey started in 2006 when she was laid off from her job as the manager of the now-defunct Ivy Inn on University Avenue. She admits that she was flailing a bit at the time, as she tried to figure out what to do next, and was hired by the bookstore to cover some hours during busy periods.

Then a terrible call came that December. Barnes' parents, who live near Duluth in northern Minnesota, had been hit by a semi truck on their way to a Christmas party. They had lived through the accident, but they were both in bad shape. Barnes called her boss, then-owner Terri Bischoff, and said she was going home to care for her parents and didn't know when she might return.

Barnes ended up living with and caring for her parents for almost a year, until October 2007. It's a time she says she feels lucky to have had with her aging parents, but it still was a pause in her career. To pass the time, Barnes started daydreaming.

"I dreamed a 'someday bookstore' in my head -- what it would look like, what books I would carry," she said. "I even had a scrapbook I created. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that my someday bookstore would be Booked for Murder."

But life has a funny way of taking people off course, only to deposit them back in the right spot at the right time. So it went for Barnes. She returned to Madison last fall, and when she stopped in to her old workplace, she was amazed to see a "for sale" sign in the window.

For Bischoff, the timing was perfect. She and her partner, Linda, have three little boys, all under the age of 3 -- including twins who were born in September. The couple was struggling to find the time to devote to the business, so they were looking for a buyer who would give the bookstore the same love and attention they had lavished on it for years.

"It was hard to sell and give up ownership, but since I'm staying on to mentor Sara, I still get to be involved in all the good stuff -- talking to customers, making suggestions, ordering books," Bischoff said. "The big difference is that I'm only in for one or two days a week and I don't think about it night and day."

Barnes says she is grateful for Bischoff's continuing relationship with the store. In addition, Barnes' past experiences have already come into play.

"Booked for Murder to me seems a lot like the Ivy Inn," she said. "People used to say 'Aren't you scared that the (Best Western) InnTowner is right across the street,' but we served different audiences."

The same is true of bookstores, she said. Big-box bookstores offer a quick, anonymous experience, and for some customers, that's a great fit. For those readers who want to chat one-on-one with fellow readers and booksellers and who want to browse new and used books, a neighborhood store like Booked for Murder is their destination.

Some modest changes are already being implemented. Barnes has purchased slipcovers to spruce up the existing armchairs, and she has added a 1930s-style radio that will play period music from the 1920s and '30s. New lighting and paint are in the works, and the used book sections, which are now divided between two rooms, will be combined into one display, thereby opening up more room for new books.

Barnes also plans to capitalize on the store's well-known name and location, and she will honor the store's 20th anniversary this year with a reading series and other events. And she wants to revamp the store's Web site to better serve customers who want to buy online.

"Our loyal customer base is probably our strongest point in our favor," she said, adding that she's already thinking of ways to serve those customers, including developing more niche lines and offering handouts that list books by their type (cozy, procedural, etc.) and their subject matter.

Of course, maybe it's not so surprising that Barnes ended up with Booked for Murder. She said all of it feels a little like an unexpected recovery -- from her parents' return to health to her own accidental acquisition of a career that she's certain will satisfy for years.

"This I want to do forever," she said.

Upcoming readings:

University of Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing fellows Kevin A. Gonzalez & Shara Lessley will read from their works in progress at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 8, on the sixth floor of Helen C. White Hall, 600 N. Park St. Gonzalez, an award-winning poet and fiction writer, is a graduate of the UW-Madison Master of Fine Arts program in creative writing.

Young poets need all the support and encouragement they can get, so poetry lovers should be sure to attend the Greater Dane County Youth Poetry Festival at 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 9, at Memorial High School, 201 S. Gammon Road. Winners of the competition will read from their work, as will the judges, CX Dillhunt, Andrea Musher and Richard Roe.

Young readers honored:

The Wisconsin Center for the Book has announced the winners of its 2007-2008 Letters About Literature competition -- one of my favorite annual contests. The competition asks young readers to write a letter to an author, explaining how his or her work changed their view of the world or themselves.

Winners in the Level 1 (grades 4-6) category were: Matthew Stokdyk of Sheboygan Falls (first place); David Johnston of Racine (second place); and Sydnee Eckberg of Appleton (honorable mention). Level 2 (grades 7-8) winners included: Taylor Kurowski from Green Bay (first place); Kimberly Klammer from Milwaukee (second place) and Abby Mickelson from Barron (honorable mention). Level 3 (grades 9-12) winners were: Tracy Haack from Clintonville (first place); and Alexa Schultz, also from Clintonville, (second place).

Heather Lee Schroeder  —  5/08/2008 7:08 am