Bookseller Barnes & Noble, Inc. (BKS) has been hoping to find a potential buyer, but it appears as though its search will end with no buyer.

The book seller has been searching for months for a potential buyer, and the search will likely continue for a couple more weeks, but people close to the bidding process have stated that it looks unlikely that the company will be able to find a buyer.

Shares of bookseller Barnes & Noble (BKS) traded sharply lower in the opening minutes of the trading session after the company reported disappointing second quarter results.

Going into this morning's earnings report, analysts had expected a loss of 8 cents per share for the quarter. BKS reported a much worse loss of 22 cents per share.

When there's uncertainty to a thesis, I'm not inclined to buy. That might seem obvious on the surface, but I know there are a lot of individual speculators out there who would disagree with me. Take a roll of the dice, they might say. Uncertainty can lead to huge gains, they might counter. Well, it depends on the situation, I suppose. In the case of Barnes & Noble, Inc. (BKS), I think I'll take my chances elsewhere.

At the time of this writing, shares of the bookseller were off by more than 4% in the afternoon session, coming in at $14.36. Volume wasn't yet above average, however.

Friday morning, a Parisian court convicted Google (GOOG) in a copyright infringement case surrounding the online publication of French books. The French judge ruled that Google has to pay roughly $430,000 in damages and interest to French publishing house La Martiniere.

In addition, Google was ordered to pay 10,000 euro per day until the French books are taken down from the online database. This decision is notable because publishers and libraries in both the U.S. and Europe have criticized Google for its decision to scan millions of books and make them available online.

Santa hasn't even been tugged down Central Park West yet, and Wal-Mart (WMT) is already slashing its prices. The market among major retailers is intensifying, with many offering products as loss leaders in order to entice customers into the store (physical or otherwise) and boost their basket sizes. Along with Target (TGT) and Amazon (AMZN), Walmart is slashing DVD prices, the same tactic it's using with books.

Retailers are rushing to undercut each other this year, which is causing prices to spiral down quickly. When Walmart announced reduced prices on several titles to $10, Amazon followed at $9.99, with Walmart stepping back in at $9.98.

Scholastic (NASDAQ: SCHL), the publisher of the Harry Potter books, issued its first-quarter numbers on Thursday. Although things do seem to be improving, I can't say I was wholly enchanted by the data.

Net sales from continuing operations rose 14%. Okay, that's a good start. Double-digit rises are always respectable. But then we get to the bottom line. Scholastic, which is a related business to McGraw-Hill (NYSE: MHP), lost 68 cents per share from continuing operations. Now, sure, the loss was considerably less severe than the year-ago black ink of $1.13 per share. But I always get nervous when I read about losses. Can't help it.

Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), a bookseller that competes with Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT), and Borders Group, Inc. (NYSE: BGP), issued a Q2 earnings report on Thursday morning that in no way makes me want to invest in the company. As far as I'm concerned, the retailer has a lot of work to do, and I wouldn't want to involve my portfolio with a business that is still trying to find its way.

Barnes & Noble earned 14 cents per share on an adjusted basis. Earnings.com reports an expectation of 10 cents per share. So management went beyond projections. Should shareholders be content with such news and call it a day?

According to this news source, Borders delivered adjusted income equal to $1.05 per share. The market was looking for $0.95 per share. Beating by a dime is a pretty wide margin and something to celebrate. If you're a healthy company, that is. Borders is not a healthy company. It's had all kinds of problems. For instance, Zac Bissonnette recently reported on the bookseller's debt problems and how it needed to secure a loan to stay running. Elizabeth Harrow discussed the terrible holiday-selling season and the replacement of the CEO back in January. And there have been workforce reductions.

"I want people to understand the environment in which I was making decisions. I want people to get a sense of how decisions were made and I want people to understand the options that were placed before me," he told the Associated Press.

The publishing industry might be in the toilet, but former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is doing just fine.

The Associated Press reports that the former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has signed a three-book deal with Crown Publishers that guarantees her at least $2.5 million. The first book will be a memoir of her years in the Bush Administration, followed by a book about her family, followed by a young-adult version of her life story.

The first authorized sequel to A.A. Milne's beloved Winnie the Pooh series will make its debut this year. David Benedictus's "Return to the Hundred Acre Wood" will be in stores on October 5. Dutton Children's Books is the publisher, and executive Don Weisberg says the book will be a "huge seller for a long, long time."

To its credit, Milne's estate has carefully guarded the character -- they could have easily cashed in for millions years ago by authorizing sequel after sequel. That Mr. Benedictus was finally the one who convinced them would seem to suggest that the book will be quite good.

According to The Wall Street Journal (subscription required), "The troubled book industry, in need of titles that will pull readers into the stores, will get a much-needed jolt" from the title.

I somehow doubt that Winnie will be a big enough hit to provide much relief to booksellers. But he's a hard guy not to root for.