KANSAS CITY, Mo. — David Smale is used to tight deadlines. As a freelance sports reporter and author, Smale has perfected working under pressure.
All that practice paid off for the Kansas City, Missouri, man.
He had just two weeks to write a book detailing the history of the Kansas City Chiefs called, “The Keys to the Kingdom.”
Smale said a publisher approached him with the idea in mid-March, the same day the Big 12 Conference canceled its men’s and women’s basketball tournaments at the then Sprint Center, which Smale was set to cover.
“On my way home on the radio, I hear they’re canceling the NCAA [men’s basketball] tournament and all spring sports and shortly thereafter they’re canceling baseball. So I was like, ‘I got something to do,'” Smale recalled.
In order to have the book printed and ready to sell on store shelves by the beginning of this NFL season, Smale had to finish writing by April 1.
He met the deadline.
It's a good thing he’s been a fan of the Chiefs since they moved to Kansas City.
“I had some fun,” Smale admitted. “It is very personal.”
The coffee-table book is made up of a series of half, one or two page short stories covering a different player, coach, executive or play which made the Chiefs the team it is today.
Smale said it is the only book published since the team’s Super Bowl LIV win which covers the team’s entire history. And fans are eager to get their hands on it.
Smale said the publisher told him the book has broken pre-sale records.
“This was a labor of love,” Smale said. “I put in the introduction I wrote it for myself, I had incentive, but I wrote it for myself and I’m happy to share it with other Chiefs fans.”
To order a copy of “The Keys to the Kingdom” for yourself, visit Smale's website.
Smale said you can request an autographed copy by simply asking for one in the notes section of the ordering process. He also has several in-person and virtual book signing events coming up.
