Whoa! Not saying CreateSpace is disreputable at all. I love CreateSpace.
It is, however, a self-publishing service and thus it is "disreputable" in that sense. There's additional credibility when you're backed by a publisher, particularly a major one. Thus, by using CreateSpace, you're lacking some credibility there. That credibility, as well as the sales channels, can be pretty valuable for getting a book into a store.
There's nothing wrong with CreateSpace specifically though.
That said, Barnes and Noble will not order books for their stores through CreateSpace (unless, perhaps, specifically requested by a customer). That is, it won't stock books with a CreateSpace ISBN on their shelves.
One person (who handles independently published books) at Barnes and Noble told me that this is because CreateSpace / Amazon is a competitor. Maybe that's true, or maybe CreateSpace does something funky with returns (like not accepting them with good enough terms) or doesn't offer a sufficient discount. I'm not sure.
Regardless of the reason, the fact remains that Barnes and Noble will not accept books printed by CreateSpace for their stores. (They will, however, list them on their website... which I can't imagine many people order from.)
AND -- if you purchase your ISBN from CreateSpace, then CreateSpace owns your ISBN and only CreateSpace can print your book. You can't, say, have CreateSpace print your book for Amazon sales and then Lightning Source print your book for B&N sales (or Pothi.com for India).
If purchase your own ISBN (for like $250), then you can print through multiple sources. This will allow you to print your book with Lightning Source (as well as CreateSpace), and thus get into Barnes and Noble stores.
That said, for the vast, vast majority of self-published books (or any book), getting into Barnes and Noble stores just isn't going to happen anyway.
It is, however, a self-publishing service and thus it is "disreputable" in that sense. There's additional credibility when you're backed by a publisher, particularly a major one. Thus, by using CreateSpace, you're lacking some credibility there. That credibility, as well as the sales channels, can be pretty valuable for getting a book into a store.
There's nothing wrong with CreateSpace specifically though.
That said, Barnes and Noble will not order books for their stores through CreateSpace (unless, perhaps, specifically requested by a customer). That is, it won't stock books with a CreateSpace ISBN on their shelves.
One person (who handles independently published books) at Barnes and Noble told me that this is because CreateSpace / Amazon is a competitor. Maybe that's true, or maybe CreateSpace does something funky with returns (like not accepting them with good enough terms) or doesn't offer a sufficient discount. I'm not sure.
Regardless of the reason, the fact remains that Barnes and Noble will not accept books printed by CreateSpace for their stores. (They will, however, list them on their website... which I can't imagine many people order from.)
AND -- if you purchase your ISBN from CreateSpace, then CreateSpace owns your ISBN and only CreateSpace can print your book. You can't, say, have CreateSpace print your book for Amazon sales and then Lightning Source print your book for B&N sales (or Pothi.com for India).
If purchase your own ISBN (for like $250), then you can print through multiple sources. This will allow you to print your book with Lightning Source (as well as CreateSpace), and thus get into Barnes and Noble stores.
That said, for the vast, vast majority of self-published books (or any book), getting into Barnes and Noble stores just isn't going to happen anyway.
Happy to answer more questions / clarify!