In the good old days, you'd write your book in Word and email (or fax!) the draft to your editor, plus post off some slides to the designer, and then just sit back and wait for your book to be published, and the money roll in (or pay off your advance, or not).
Couldn't you outsource those elements to a freelancer Andy, such as on Fiver or 99 Designs? I've used them before and more than affordable for the time you save.
May I ask what you think is a good software program to load into a Windows laptop to begin a novice writing project? I am that novice.
I suppose it depends on what you're writing, but Scrivner is very good for complex writing projects.
Couldn't you outsource those elements to a freelancer Andy, such as on Fiver or 99 Designs? I've used them before and more than affordable for the time you save.