Paid media includes advertising, price promotions, and giveaways. While some promotions and giveaways may not cost you out of pocket, you’re still “paying” the value of the book in the hopes of more sales later on.

It’s entirely possible to have strong book marketing without placing ads or doing giveaways, but for self-publishing novelists—especially those working in genres like romance or urban fantasy—it is exceedingly difficult to keep one’s visibility and sales afloat without at least Amazon ad campaigns.