Goodreads Authors/Readers discussion

Lightning Source, maybe. I've never used it but I know they're another POD service that people seem to like.

Richard,
I have used Lightning Source when I self published my own book and things worked out fine. They are part of Ingram Group of companies. They are able to print in the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain & now Australia (they opened downunder in Melbourne last year).
They issue a monthly catalogue which lists all their available books (this will cost you about $12 a year I think)
cheers
Geoff

If you go on to their web site it will explain the various fees and it will take you through productions costs (depending a number of pages and your choice of the size of the book) - later it will detail handling cost and distribution costs from express to the two or three day service. You can download the various pages so as to be able to play around with a 'what if' situation. You are able to have an account with any of their printing areas to cut down on postage costs. i.e if I buy the book you would have it printed in Melbourne and posted locally rather than produced in the US and then have int'l postage charges. The only problem with my example is that Oz postage charges are stupidly high and it is cheaper (for me with any sale in Oz) to buy from Book Depository because of their free postage. Stupid really, but it works for me . . . .:-o)

One thing about LSI: if you're really trying to do this without telling anyone about it, LSI's the wrong place to go. They belong to Ingram, and once your book is on the Ingram catalog, it'll start showing up in more online bookseller sites than you ever knew existed.

Also, pay attention to all the fees. For instance, they charge you every time you upload a cover or text-block change. If you tend to make a lot of changes to your books, it'll add up fast. The paperwork you have to fill out is also fairly extensive.

OTOH, their product is good and their account reps are usually pretty helpful.

Based on your parameters you should check out booklocker. They use LS for printing but as a small firm will work on hiding it from any source you'd like. The only issue I had with them before switching was copies were a little expensive- you should call create space though. They may be able to not distribute your book or push it through to the catalogs. The services are great and author book cost is reasonable... Depending on page count a copy costs you 3 to 5 dollars.

Aside from issues with cover formatting, I love createspace. I've never had anyone buy a paperback through amazon, but I love having them on hand and you can't beat the price. I can sell a large novel for ten bucks and still make enough to pay down my book debt :).