If I create a .doc file in LibreOffice Writer with a couple words of text, then send it to a friend who uses Office Word 2013, the document is blank. Is this a problem with how LibreOffice is constructing the file or with how Office is reading it?
Why not sending him a *.odt file? MS Office 2013 is working very well with odt files.
Which LibreOffice version do you use?
Also note related bugs: fdo#64473. fdo#75634 (both relate to DOC), and fdo#79695 (for ODT). The problem indicated in the question is likely that reported in the first bug.
Unfortunately I need to go with .doc. Thanks for pointing out the bugs, you are right that the first one is exactly what I’m experiencing. I think it might be something with MS2013, but after communicating with them, they say “it’s not our problem”. Important note, this also happens with OpenOffice and other non microsoft editors.