I am about self-publishing my very first non-fiction book but i am not yet certain who to choose as my self publisher between lulu, createspace and cereb press. I am interested in a publisher that will also, actually, assist in marketing and advertising my book too besides publishing it. Of course, cost is another factor to be considered. What do you advice?

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None of those companies will do more than list your book in a catalog. Self-publishing is only useful if you are going to make a career out of promoting the book. If the book is good and has a useful educational slant, it is worth taking it to regular publishers.

To compete against professional publishing houses, big and small, in the field of advertising and marketing is unwise, to say the least. It's like your local high school baseball team competing against a Triple A minor league team, better off just playing the powerball lottery and face the 100 million to one odds of winning. Just keep sending your writing to literary agents or small publishing houses. If your writing has merit it might be accepted at no cost to you.

The other answers are correct, self publishing is also self promotion. Createspace is free, and they will list your book on Amazon, but they won't promote it. They do have an option of paying a one-time fee of $39 to increase your royalties, but that is your choice. If you feel really good about your book, then you might consider contacting an independent publisher. The big publishing houses, like Random House, only accept submissions from agents. Most legitimate agents don't want to represent anyone who hasn't been published. The independent publishers are more receptive to first-time authors. You can find listings and ratings for publishers and agents, including independent publishers, at pred-ed.com. Keep in mind you have to be patient and willing to listen to frank feedback. Publishing is a tough business. They reject close to 99% of the submissions they receive. Good luck.

I agree that none of these will do a good job promoting your book. Self publishing means you need to do what a publisher does which includes layout, editing, marketing and distribution. If you do not have the skills or connections to accomplish these things, you should not self publish. You say your book is non-fiction. Consider what the market is for that book and how to reach them. Having your book on Amazon is one distribution option. It is not marketing. I used lulu for my last full-color self published project and I doubt I will ever use them again. At least for color, their prices have gotten too high to offer a book for sale at competitive prices. I have also been very disappointed with their customer service. They do have good price calculators, so crunch the numbers for your own project. CreateSpace has more appeal to me. I'm not familiar with Cereb. A book is like any other product. To make money on it, it needs to be a quality product people will demand. This means it has to have good content including good editing and layout. They need to known about and be able to easily purchase it at a competitive price. If you are not capable of doing this, I recommend against self publishing. If you can, then go for it. I found it to b a lot of work, but very satisfying as well.