Not on normal mail currently so cant respond directly to emails, but I 
heard a couple of things.

a. MS Publisher is just like Word only with wizards.  (this is not really 
ture as you cant do things vector in Word.  (i.e. over laying images and 
text is nearly impossible for print shop type quality) (I think someone 
else pointed this out later)

b. Something like CorelDraw might work for serious publishers but doesnt 
have the cutesy point and click wizard.

Interestingly there is a project called SodiPodi that is a vector based 
imaging program witha  CorelDraw interface.  It is coming along nicely and 
could be used by more experienced print shop folks.  

http://sodipodi.sourceforge.net/

-Derek