I recently moved from New Jersey to Southern California. With that comes a lot of new introductions, and part of that conversation usually includes a question about what I do for work.
I try to keep it vague: “I work in PR!” and let it go from there, because so many people I meet have a skewed perception of what it means to be a public relations professional. If they keep the conversation going, most of their initial responses are “It’s like marketing, right?” or “You mean parties, like what Samantha Jones does in Sex and the City?”
These kinds of answers reflect a much larger challenge: public relations is one of the most influential industries in the world… and also one of the most misunderstood.
Back home in New Jersey, I also coached a 12U softball team and my players would often try to understand what I did for work. How could I explain it in terms a kid would understand? Mostly, they still all think I write for The New York Times because that was the example of a reporter I might work with, and that’s all they took with them.
It’s not anyone’s fault. Public relations is a hidden career that even those working adjacent to the industry don’t always understand. And kids are certainly not exposed to it.
That’s why the launch of Game Face: Becoming a PR Detective is more than just a book release. It’s an invitation — for kids and grown-ups alike — to finally understand the power of communication in shaping the world around us.
Let’s face it: PR has a PR problem.
Despite being a $100+ billion global industry, public relations still suffers from a lack of clarity and credibility in the public eye. Too often, PR is dismissed as “damage control“ or something people turn to only when things go wrong.
As part of our 10th anniversary campaign, Bospar surveyed Americans about the PR profession to gauge where most stood on the topic. Here’s what we uncovered:
- 78% of children are interested in storytelling-related jobs, like public relations, but only 3.5% selected journalist or publicist as their preferred career choice when they grew up.
- 64.5% of parents say schools focus too narrowly on traditional jobs, leaving creative and strategic careers like PR out of the conversation.
- 75.8% of adult survey respondents would take a job in a more creative field if money wasn’t an issue and 57% would consider a career in public relations specifically.
- 70% of Americans said they’d be open to trying more creative careers if their job security was threatened
- The survey also found that as adults age into their careers (35-54), more than 40% crave creative freedom over anything else… even a month-long vacation to Europe.
At its core, PR is about trust, empathy, storytelling and strategy. It’s about building meaningful relationships between organizations and the public. It’s about helping good stories rise above the noise and empowering people to connect with causes, ideas and each other.
So – how do we get past the negative perception around PR? Enter Curtis Sparrer’s Game Face.
The challenges of promoting a book about a hidden industry
Right from the start, we faced a difficult challenge: getting the media to cover a book about a profession many people don’t understand, including their readers. In today’s age, reporters are writing stories their readers want to see – it doesn’t matter what they think is interesting if it doesn’t drive traffic to their publication’s website.
So we began by focusing on PR trade publications — outlets like PR News, PR Daily, PR Week O’Dwyer’s, and Bulldog Reporter — whose audiences already understand the industry and the unique challenge of explaining what we do to friends and family. During Curtis’s in-person media tour in New York, we showed the true impact of the first book about PR. The trades ate it up – publishing the concept nearly immediately as a call to the industry to let them know something big and bold was coming, and they should be ready for it.
As for mainstream outlets, that was where the real challenge came in. How do you get a book about a profession no one seems to know about in national media outlets? You have to offer them something new and exciting that also makes your story relevant to their audiences.
Bospar knows this. We navigate this challenge for our clients every day. So, we quickly turned to developing a survey that gathered more than just sentiment about the industry. We asked questions about what students want in careers, what adults wished they’d known earlier, what stops them from taking creative jobs and more. We also tied the narrative into timely workplace themes, like remote work and return-to-office policies, which further positioned Bospar as a modern, forward-thinking agency. This combination helped us land coverage in outlets including Forbes, Business Insider, Newsweek and AFP.
Key takeaways and lessons learned
1. Think outside the box
If your workplace is promoting a book in a crowded space, you’ll need to get creative. How can you stand out? What angles can you lean into to better tell your narrative and explain the why behind your story? Unless you are an ex-Google exec and your book is all about your best advice for leveling up in tech, telling your story will be a challenge. Straying outside of your self-proposed boundaries can help.
2. Position your author as the expert, not just the author
Book promotions aren’t just about the book itself. With Game Face, we leveraged Curtis’ background and experience to discuss work from home, government RTO, careers and more. In all his discussions, he worked his responses back to the discussion around Bospar’s 10th anniversary and the book wherever possible, and that led us to get good press coverage on both the anniversary and the book itself.
3. Events are a key part of the game
To cap off the book launch, we hosted an 80-person event at Ridge Ventures in San Francisco. At the event, attendees got a first-hand experience with the book: signed copies, an exclusive reading and interviews with Curtis to ask about his inspiration and more. His niece, Sloane, who is the inspiration behind Game Face’s main character, also attended and excitedly shared her perspective. This book really helped her better understand what Uncle Curtis did for a living and why it matters. That personal connection resonated deeply with attendees and reinforced the book’s mission.
Changing the narrative, one reader at a time
What makes Game Face so powerful isn’t just that it’s the first of its kind (though it is) or that it became an Amazon best-seller (which it did). It reframes what public relations means, especially for the next generation.
Instead of treating PR like a mysterious industry hidden behind jargon and headlines, Game Face invites kids into the world of communication. It says, “Here’s how we solve problems. Here’s how we help people. Here’s how your voice matters.”
And that message couldn’t be more timely.
In an age where misinformation spreads quickly, where social media dominates how we connect and where public opinion can make or break a brand in an instant, we need young people to grow up media literate. We need them to understand how narratives are shaped. We need them to ask better questions about the stories they see and feel confident telling their own.
The release of Game Face also marks the 10-year anniversary of Bospar — a firm known for championing inclusive storytelling, remote-first culture and bold communications. What better way to celebrate a decade of shaping stories than by investing in the storytellers of tomorrow?
This isn’t just about publicity. It’s about planting seeds of curiosity, confidence and critical thinking.
Get in the game
Whether you’re a parent, teacher, communications pro or simply someone who believes in the power of stories, Game Face is your next must-read.
Because the next time a kid asks, “What is PR?” we want the answer to be clear. We want it to be exciting. And we want it to show that PR, at its best, is about lifting others up, solving problems creatively and changing the world through words.
Game Face: Becoming a PR Detective is now available on Amazon in hardcover, paperback, and Kindle.
Explore more about the book and Bospar’s mission at bospar.com/game-face.
So go ahead — put on your game face.
Let’s raise a generation that communicates with confidence, creativity and heart.
