But yes, the pressure is increasingly on editors and agents to have more ducks in a row at the negotiating table and one of those ducks is the marketing savvy of the author him/herself. As much as some (not all) editors, agents and authors don't enjoy that, they are often subjected to the dictates of the bean counters, and the limitations of their own internal budgets and staff. Not a stand or threatening - it's what agents and editors are sharing.
Umm... not really. Not at ALL, really. Marketing savvy is what the publisher's publicity department is for. The author really has no requirement to have any when they walk in the door.
Please don't give aspiring authors the impression that they somehow need more than a great book to get a deal. It's simply not true. No website is required, no Twitter or Facebook page will get one author a deal ahead of another. It is now and always has been about the book.
Now, a person certainly MAY have savvy. The publisher won't beat on you for that either. I actually wrote an entire marketing plan for my first paranormal romance--on how to reach a male demographic. Getting male readers was a key to our success because a decade ago, urban fantasy didn't exist as a genre. The publisher helped where they could willingly. I also know agents who are active in marketing their authors. They have blogs and group signings with their clients and such. But again, there's no sort of requirement that the author participate.
Yes, internal budgets are always challenging to midlist authors, but there are ways to make the best use of the publisher's abilities while reaching readers in a splashy way. Websites can be a valuable tool to readers, to keep them up to date on appearances, new books and such. But websites are a dime a dozen today. I set one up on my current site, BlueDomino (which includes the software for design) for less than $300. It's a whopping $9.95 per month to host it and they keep all the software updated and current. I pay another little bit ($15/month) to a service to keep it updated with all our latest book info, but that's mostly because I don't have much time anymore. Too many books to write, plus a day job.
I don't mind you selling a service. If an author wants you to design a website for them, that's fine. But please don't use fear as a tactic to sell your product. That will quickly backfire with members of this site. It's seen as troll-ish and unethical. Go forth and prosper. Just be honest with your clients and it'll all be good.