As a book publicist, I would say that nearly every book -- whether it's published through a mainstream publisher, self-published, or via a print-on-demand company -- has media potential. But if you've used a P.O.D. company to publish your book, you're probably on a tighter budget than if you chose to self-publish your book instead. Therefore, you might want to consider some of the free, or nearly free, book promotion ideas that Yvonne Perry cites in her Writers in the Sky blog.
Is it possible to interest a book promotion specialist in representing, say, an iUniverse book? Certainly. We have lower-cost book promotion campaigns that are tailored to authors who are on a tighter budget. But book promotion specialists can't work for free. If you're looking for a low-cost alternative to hiring a book publicist, you might want to check out my affiliate site, Book Promotion Tools, for a product that will let you pitch your books to the media without using a book promotion specialist as a go-between.
I would join Yvonne Perry in suggesting that, however you pitch your story idea to the media, you pitch it as often as you can afford. Book promotion is a numbers game. The greater number of pitches you throw out there, the greater the number of positive responses you will receive.
Your P.O.D. title might never make the New York Times bestseller list because, for it to do that, it would have to be available on the shelves of bookstores that report to the list. But that's not to say that your book can't sell a respectable number of copies. Adjust your goals to fit the style of publishing you've chosen, and adapt your book promotion plans to fit your budget, and your project can be a success.
