This Pitch Worked for The New York Times

a cold pitch email that turned into an assignment

Hi writer friends,

Sometimes I feel bad about how much time I spend on Instagram. But this one time, a bout of mindless scrolling turned into my first byline for The New York Times. I hate to justify added time on social media, but that did happen.

Anyways, a friend had shared a video of a woman who had committed to buying nothing in 2020, and it got me…