Word is really rather clunky if you try to use it to lay out pages -- and Word layouts don't export very well into any other program. But if it produces layouts you like, and your publisher likes them, by all means use Word.
InDesign's advantage is that it gives you much more control and flexibility in your page setups, and saves you a fair amount of work fiddling with where things go. I avoid Word whenever possible, but I see my co-workers putting in lots and lots of time trying to make their pages "look right" that I don't have to do.
And being a professional at it (i.e. I use it 40 hours a week), I can't really speak to the learning curve.
I've also found that InDesign has a pretty good word processor embedded into it -- in fact I vastly prefer it to Word. To a large degree, I think it's a matter of what you're used to.
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InDesign's advantage is that it gives you much more control and flexibility in your page setups, and saves you a fair amount of work fiddling with where things go. I avoid Word whenever possible, but I see my co-workers putting in lots and lots of time trying to make their pages "look right" that I don't have to do.
And being a professional at it (i.e. I use it 40 hours a week), I can't really speak to the learning curve.
I've also found that InDesign has a pretty good word processor embedded into it -- in fact I vastly prefer it to Word. To a large degree, I think it's a matter of what you're used to.