There’s a rule of thumb in marketing that it costs five times more to attract a new client than the price of retaining an existing one. So retaining clients seems to make good sense. (Hint to indie authors: This applies to you as well.) One good way to retain clients is to offer new services. New services that are low-cost are a bonus. New services that help clients market themselves? Priceless!

BB eBooks has just added Substance B, a marketing solution for its clients that hits both the “low-cost” and “helps clients market” buttons.
Substance B
The basic service, which is free to BB eBook clients, gives each author a Web page on the Substance B site. The page has links to their books and where to buy them. Authors also get a short bio, links to social media sites, and there’s a sign-up form to be added to a newsletter list.

It won’t replace a full author Web page, but it’s yet another touch point for potential readers. A bit of extra free marketing is never a bad thing! Here’s mine, if you’d like to see an example.

They also provide samples. You can download them in ePub or Mobi, and there’s a reader embedded into the site if you prefer.

BB eBooks has demonstrated that it is KDP Select-savvy. Its website FAQ has a section on what to do if you’re a Select author and how to handle your Substance B page when you run a Select promotion. Good attention to detail.

The company also offers a “signed book” feature. There’s a minimal cost to take advantage of that, and I haven’t tested it yet, although there is a sample on the site if you want to check it out. It looks like it could be useful for book signings if an author doesn’t have a paper version.

It’s not fancy, but it’s a good value-added service.

Wondering about the name? According to the FAQ, “It is a modified literary reference to the excellent novel A Scanner Darkly.”

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