Do writers need websites?

[Christine]

I'm an aspiring writer and I'm looking for ways to get my name out there.
I've submitted to a couple magazines and websites, and even ran a blog for a while, but I had no idea how to get followers.
Do you think aspiring writers need websites?
Would it be beneficial?
I'm a poet/short story writer at the moment, and since I'm still in college, I'm waiting before I write my first novel.

[David]

It can be very helpful. You can start with a blog and work your way up to paying for a site. I like Blogger

[Joyce A]

Yes, they say it is good. You should also have a FB page as an author and a Twitter acct. These special social media venues should be only for your writing news. You could post your own musings about writing, quotes from writers, excerpts from books or magazine articles depicting a particular element such as character building, dialogue, detail, etc. or some facet of poetry like examples of hyperbole, alliteration, metaphor, simile, personification, onomatopoeia etc.

You could also post snippets of your own work, but I would not publish the entire piece.

[Steven J Pemberton]

Since publishers expect writers to do most of their own publicity nowadays, a writer needs some way to communicate with readers and potential readers that is under his control. You could spend years building up a loyal following on Facetwit, and the company could go bankrupt, or decide that they don't want users who are in your target audience, or some troll could get your account suspended.

If you have your own website, and use your social media accounts to steer readers towards it, it can't be taken away from you when you want/need to move off Facetwit.

Of course, having your own website when you don't have anything you want people to pay to read might be a little premature.

[writeonepub]

A website is a great book marketing tool and can act as a central location for the readers of your book to find out information about you. It's also a great way to collect email addresses if you have an email opt-in so that you can further communicate with your readers about your upcoming book projects.