The Softcover sales platform includes a marketing page with slots for author bio, testimonials, FAQs, etc. (See, for example, Mark Bates's marketing page at http://conqueringthecommandline.com/) Softcover also supports an optional free HTML version of your book, which can be a great marketing tool. Finally, we are planning to develop a step-by-step "Marketing Wizard" to give authors detailed advice and guidance in their marketing efforts.

Do authors have the option of providing a book preview for free online rather than the entire thing? Or does that feature only allow for the entire book to be made free online?

Yes, Softcover has integrated support for making downloadable previews. In addition, currently the HTML version has to be either 100% free or 100% behind a paywall, but we plan to add the capability to make select HTML preview chapters available as well.