Thanks, DK. I've found the free tools offered by Amazon and Smashwords for translating Word files to eBook files work fairly well, though they are not perfect. The free book cover creators that CreateSpace and Amazon offer are also fine, as far as they go.
Recently I purchased Corel WordPerfect X6 (the current version is X7 but the professional package is around $150 at its discounted price and more than I am willing to pay) primarily for its ability to create eBook files directly. I used it to update my Mindscapes short story collection and upload it, finally, without seemingly impossible to fix format errors that crop up with the various free tools available. It was worth the roughly $40 price just for that feature, but corel also offers all the bells and whistles and spreadsheets, presentation graphics, etc. (The Home and Student versions of the Corel Office Suite does NOT have the eBook generator function though and, worse, is not licensed to create books or other commercial applications. (The same is true for the educational version of the MS Office suites). I use Office only because I get it free through my university. WordPerfect X5-X7is worth purchasing for anyone who wants to generate eBooks with a minimum of fuss and a minimal number of format and translation errors.