Kakapo Parrots: Kim Griggs speaks (audio)

At the 5th World Conference for Science Journalists in Melbourne, Kim Griggs spoke during "How to make a big story bigger". Her speech focussed on the promotion of her Kakapo stories of recent years.

Kim Griggs, freelance science writer in New Zealand, has to make stories bigger “to make a living.”

The green fat nocturnal parrot — Kakapo — sold well. In one trip, Griggs sold the Kakapo story to COSMOS magazine for a feature, to the BBC by interviewing UK volunteers, and to New Scientist for artificial insemination. Though the real reason to pursue stories like the Kakapo is to hold one of the six Kakapos in her hand, Griggs says.

Griggs gave out some handy advice: develop relationships with editors and exploit resources such as list serves. Most importantly, show your credentials by creating a Web site.

You can listen to an MP3 audio of the speech, and Kim Griggs starts speaking at the 17 minute point.

We've covered Kim Griggs' work before on this site. e.g Winging It with Don Merton, and her own site is at KimGriggs.net.