Can you tell us what the deal is with Createspace, and why you chose them?
Not to barge in or anything, but I just published a book through CreateSpace (
http://2001productions.com/ThreeWeeksWithTheGoonies.aspx).
The only required upfront charge was the writer's proof copy of my book, plus shipping. There is also an optional $39.00 "Pro" status fee, which lowers your per-book cost and raises your royalty percentage. If you think you'll sell a lot of books this is definitely worth paying. In my case, it more than paid for itself with my first order.
CreateSpace is owned by Amazon, so placement there is automatic, unless you opt out (which you can do if you want).
There are no particularly stringent requirements, other than the material must be properly formatted for the size of book you want to create. And they don't accept pornography.
Couple of downsides:
CreateSpace is strictly a printing service, so publicity is 100% your own responsibility. Other than the listing on Amazon, they won't promote your work for you.
Since they are a "print-on-demand" service, they use computer printers rather than offset printers. This is fine for text, but photos don't have the richness and depth that offset printers give you. The covers look great, though.
They also offer what they call the Expanded Distribution Network, which makes your book available at wholesale prices to the big boys - B&N, Wal-Mart, libraries, etc. On the surface this sounds like a great deal, but I read several posts on their forum from people who got screwed out of royalties that way. What happens is, you set your cover price and that's what Amazon charges for the book. When someone buys it off Amazon they pay you a royalty of, in my case, about 35%. Problem with the EDN is that online companies buy the book at wholesale prices, then turn around and sell it at a lower price than Amazon does. Through EDN your royalty is less than 10%. Anyone doing an online search for the book is most likely going to pay the lower price, in which case you're forfeiting 25% of your royalty. Of course, if B&N or Wal-Mart buy several thousand copies it's probably worth it. I personally opted out of EDN, though I'm free to change my mind anytime.