Every aspiring writer of fiction, poetry and non-fiction should have a Web site that will entertain and inform interested readers.

A history of publications is just the beginning. Every published writer should have a Web site that has a wide variety of information and details about the writer. Readers who arrive at a writer's Web site are there because they want to know more about the writer. They want to read more from the writer. They want to know the writer on a more personal level and experience things the writer experiences.

Keep Your Web Site Simple

There's no need to hire a professional Web site designer to put together something that looks like it belongs on the official Transformers homepage. Stephen King's Web site would be too hard for a single writer to maintain. Ethan Rutherford's site is a much better example of how a simple Web site can still be appealing. Buy a domain name and use a simple html formatting program that makes it easy to format text, insert pictures and create simple hyperlinks.

Make Your Publications Available to Readers

Readers who arrive on a writer's homepage are there because they enjoy reading the writer's work. Every writer's homepage should have a publication history that provides readers with information on how to find the published works and, if possible, provide a link with access to the work (provided it's available online).

Create a Bio Page

Readers interested in a writer will arrive on a writer's homepage expecting to learn a little something about the writer. It's up to the writer to decide how much personal information the reader should have access to, but at the very least a little information about the writer's history and personal philosophy on writing should be available.

Every Writer Needs a Blog

Blogging can, at times, be the punchline of it's own joke. But for readers who have a genuine interest in a writer, blogs can provide the writer with an opportunity to share thoughts on a daily basis and keep readers coming back between published works and cement a fan base. Choose a subject to write about, or a topic that can be written about at length from time to time. It doesn't necessarily have to be about writing. A lot of writers have day jobs, and writing about something other than writing can help expand a writer's fan base and record details that could be used in future stories, poems, or articles.

Provide Links to Favorite Web Sites

It can be other authors' sites or simply a variety of interesting Web sites. Links on a writer's homepage let the writer shares with visitors interesting sites the visitors might never have otherwise found, including other authors' sites.