Some Tips For Launching Your American Publication In England

One year ago today, we launched The Infatuation London. And with somewhat good reason, we thought we knew what we were doing. The Infatuation launched in New York in 2009, and since 2014, when the company became a bona fide business with employees, we had launched in half a dozen cities across the U.S., and had put out travel guides in cities around the world. We had figured out how to make our maps work in Japan, and we knew not to launch in a city with 10 reviews and expect anyone to care (we’ve come a long way, Chicago). We had the price icons showing up in ££££ instead of $$$$, we were onboard with turning all of our z’s into s’s and we had reviews from Hackney to Hammersmith. We even had an official U.K. business address, and it involved the words ‘St John’s Churchyard.’ We knew exactly what we were doing. This attitude was, as our British colleagues would later tell us, was so. very. American.

If you were waiting for the part where I tell you that this turned out to be a complete disaster — sorry. A year on, things are going really well, though I can tell you now that the British term for that is “not too bad actually.” We have a growing team of writers, editors, and marketers (OK, actually just one of each so far, but they’re really good!), an audience that’s starting to talk back to us, and a community that’s excited about having a good time at events. But we’ve only gotten there after months of soul-searching, voice-finding, re-writing, and mistake-making. So whether you’re an editor or publisher who is also thinking, “Hey! We should bring our publication to the United Kingdom!” or you’re just a weirdo who likes reading advice articles on Medium without a real agenda, here are some tips based on the things we learned launching The Infatuation in London. Only one of them is related to pie.

1. Get “tour guide syndrome” out of your system.

I was once in a small tour van driving along the Bosphorus in Istanbul, when the tour guide described an area we were headed to as “the Soho of Turkey.” Travel around, and you’ll hear about the Lower East Side of Buenos Aires and the East Village-y area of Berlin. Friends, I recently even heard about the Tulum of Southeast Asia. I call this “tour guide syndrome.” It’s natural that we like to compare one thing to another, but also, this gets old very fast. Congratulations, you noticed that these two neighborhoods both have an Aesop soap store that no one has ever purchased anything in. For the record, I would describe Shoreditch as sort of like Williamsburg five years ago, but if it were also Flatiron, and located right next to FiDi. Really though, who is buying all the expensive soap?

2. For god’s sake, hire a British editor.

I personally edited most of The Infatuation London for the first few months, along with help from Infatuation co-founder and CEO Chris Stang. I have some British family and Chris once stayed in an inn that was Winston Churchill’s childhood home, but no matter how hard we try, we are both definitely not British. It was a bit like hiring a really good hockey player to teach you how to figure skate. We could help writers move across the ice smoothly and forcefully — gracefully, maybe, if you looked from the right angle, but even Wayne Gretzky can’t teach you how to land a triple axel. Fortunately, we found Oliver Feldman, an editor who is thoughtful, cool, well-read, and yes, British. The Infatuation is all about voice and relating to our readers, so this was extra important. And while we’re an American company, The Infatuation London is a British publication, by British writers, for British readers.

3. That said, consume all the British culture.

Even if you’re not the one editing your fancy new British publication, do consume some proper British culture. Because it’ll help you talk to your readers better, and also because you’re missing out if you don’t. The Crown does not count. Two favorite finds/random recommendations: 1) The High Low, a news and pop culture discussion podcast by writers Dolly Alderton and Pandora Sykes, who carry on really smart conversations about feminism, journalism, and entertainment, and whom I genuinely feel like are my friends; and 2) People Just Do Nothing, a Netflix mockumentary about a group of untalented DJs running a pirate garage radio station.

4. Don’t get alarmed if you’re invited to play crazy golf.

This is just mini golf, not a form of golf for psychotic people (even if you personally find all golf psychotic — sorry, family). Do get concerned if someone calls you a “jobsworth” though. Also, “chilli sauce” is not a typo. But I still maintain it should be. Not sure who invited the extra L to the party.

5. Recognize that five hours is actually a long time.

Let me guess — you have an office in LA and the time difference is totally NBD? It’s harder when it’s five hours (or maybe you’re in LA already, in which case, eight), and you’ll constantly feel like you’re playing catch-up. As I already told you, please hire an editor.

6. Think hard about how your audience goes about their day, and don’t make assumptions.

This is a learning from launching in different cities, not just from launching in different countries. Homogenous as the world’s major cities may feel on the surface (see you in the Meatpacking District of Tbilisi), your audience probably lives their lives quite differently. The number of people in NYC sitting at big computer screens at noon, for example, is pretty different from that number in LA. That noon number in London might be more similar, but what those same people might be doing on a Thursday night at 6pm (NY: working, London: drinking) or 8pm (NY: drinking, London: taking the tube home) might be different. I don’t really know that these are wholly, or even partially accurate, but they’re what I’ve observed. Point is: don’t make assumptions.

7. Don’t suggest a brainstorm.

When our team came over to New York last month, we put a “brainstorm meeting” on the calendar, to which one of our British colleagues said “well, you can’t call it a brainstorm, right?” Turns out the word “brainstorm” was deemed insensitive and politically incorrect about 10 years ago in the U.K. due to the word’s connection to epilepsy. Make of this specific example what you will —I mention it to illustrate that the specifics of how we consider language, and how that changes over time, is more variable than you might recognize. Pay attention, be hyper-aware, and be humble when you make mistakes.

8. Stay through the weekend for a Sunday Roast.

And then get depressed thinking about how we don’t have pubs — real pubs that make good food all day and let you bring your dog — in America.

9. Don’t suggest that a pie should have fruit.

You will not win this battle.