“Silicon Valley isn’t usually where aspiring authors go to kick-start a literary reputation. But for first-time novelist Leinad Zeraus, it proved the ideal launching pad: Sans publicist, promotional budget, or even publisher, Zeraus scored encomiums for his debut work, Daemon. How’d he do it? By courting bloggers and influential techies like Joi Ito, Stewart Brand, and Craig Newmark — demonstrating that if you can get the geek grapevine on your side, you don’t need Random House.”