 It depends...  If your document will contain predominantly text, Word is the better choice.  If your document will contain many graphics, photos, text, illustrations, etc., Publisher is the better choice.  Publisher gives you more control over graphics, photographs, illustrations, and text than Word.

 Publisher allows the user to exercise more control over images, etc., than Word.  Publisher has many templates to begin the design process.  Templates are limited in Word.  In Word, the user has some control over graphics, text, etc., but more control in Publisher.

 Word nor Publisher are considered industry professional applications for printing.  The final product (printed, etc.) in Word often does not look like the original.  Publisher is more stable than Word – Printed product more often resembles original.  Examples of industry professional publishing applications are:  Quark Xpress  Adobe InDesign

 A blank Word document has some basic formatting before you ever touch the keyboard.  A Publisher document is a blank slate. There is not formatting until you enter it.  Consider the appearance of your finished product?  Will it have many graphics, illustrations, photographs, and a lot of text? If so, Publisher is the better choice.  Will it have few graphics, illustrations, or photographs? Consist mainly of text? If so, Word is the better choice.

 For professional printing with Word or Publisher, convert the file to a PDF.  Converting to a PDF for submission to a professional printer makes the file more stable.  We will use Word and Publisher to create documents for publishing