Adobe Pagemaker 7.0 is the current version and retails for about �480 inc VAT. I've used older versions of Pagemaker and it's fairly intuitive and has been around forever in various versions. An alternative that a lot of people are showing interest in is Adobe InDesign CS (about �700). I don't know a great deal about this one ' it might catch on, it might not -it's early days yet. Check the Adobe website and see which you think suits your intended use.
http://www.adobe.co.uk.
But first I'd check with potential local printers that you might use and ask them what publishing software they use. They might mention QuarkXpress which is really pro stuff and comes with a hefty price tag too.. about �1000 so forget that one!! My gut feeling is that Pagemaker might fit the bill and it can also export hi-res PDFs if need be. All the best.