Adobe while still selling Pagemaker has abandoned future development. They are now selling InDesign. There is also Microsoft Publisher and QuarkXPress. A free open source alternative is Scribus. Scribus gets good reviews. For the most part, any software that can output PDF is workable. Depends on what you need.

In addition to Lulu.com there is also CreateSpace.com (AKA Amazon). I have not compared prices and services. With CreateSpace you can publish directly to kindle.

No matter what is choosen, there is a learning curve. I found that out the hard way. I never intended to learn video editing software, much less have to make the cash outlay for it.

I guess I need to say this. I am all for a bound book in my hands. I prefer it. The problem is costs. With POD it is possible to have the best of all worlds at the moment. That is, you can offer both a bound book and an ebook. You let the buyer choose. Ultimately, we are talking about a niche market. Self publishing through a vanity press becomes very expense. There are very few, some are present here, who can go to a publisher and not have to pay them to publish.

Pete