I just got done writing and self publishing my first book titled "Program Phases, A Programming Language and API Translator". The book is designed to help programmers learn new programming languages quickly.
I edited the book using Word XP 2002. The way Word renders formatted text is really inconsistent. Fonts changing randomly was really annoying. A page will not render properly unless a print preview is first displayed. I used Adobe Acrobat to convert the word files into a PDF. Acrobat worked really well.
I recommend first determining the page size and margins that are required by your publisher/printer. Create a test chapter and convert to PDF. Try different tools and see what works for you. I did create a small test using OpenOffice and I may use that for my next book.
My book's web site is located here: programphases.com
Interchangeable parts won't.