Old problem: Even writers with decent book deals can’t expect the publishing industry to pour a lot of money and marketing muscle into his or her memoir (unless it’s already looking like a monster hit). New solution: Use the tech to take matters into their own hands. Two ingenious examples from scrappy, unbounded writers.

Janice Erlbaum, author of Girlbomb: A Halfway Homeless Memoir, did a full-on trailer for her memoir. Catch the short video on YouTube; like what you see, go nuts and read the book.

Rachel Kramer Bussel didn’t get a business class ticket and an Am-Ex to promote her two new anthologies, He’s on Top: Erotic Stories of Male Dominance and Female Submission and She’s on Top: Erotic Stories of Female Dominance and Male Submission, so she cooked up the Kinky Virtual Book Tour. Throughout April and May, an assigned blogger offers her take on the hot topics at hand, with relevant excerpts throughout. It’s like a book tour meets a book club meets a rarified version of the Amazon user reviews—and I bet it catches on.