Here are four poetry chapbook strategies:

1. Include Only Your Most Vital Poems. Ten pages of great poetry is a lot more valuable than 100 pages of so-so poetry, just as one really excellent poem can make an entire career. Poets don't have to recreate "Howl" or "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" with each and every poem, but poets should consider whether it's better to have a 10-page chapbook of strong work or 20 pages of poems that "might be okay." When in doubt, leave it out.
2. Revise Each Included Poem. Even if a poem has been previously published, it's a good rule of thumb to look at each poem with a fresh set of eyes when pulling them together for a collection. Some poems may be perfect, but many will likely be open to a small change here or a giant re-thinking there. Not sure how to get started? Here are 5 Ways to Revise Poems.
3. Re-think Individual Poems as Part of Collection. When I re-worked Solving the World's Problems with my editor, we looked at poems on the atomic (word-by-word and line-by-line) level, but we also considered how the poems worked with each other. As a result, I completely re-wrote a previously published poem about fortune cookies that made predictions related specifically to other poems within the collection. It was a small way to tie the entire collection together.
4. Take Risks. As with poems, sometimes the best thing to do as a poet is take a daring risk. Even if that risk means you fall flat on your face and/or fail. This can mean taking a risk in the subject matter of your poems, the organization of the collection, or other risks. Going back to my collection, my editor suggested trying a few risks, including removing punctuation and playing with line placement.

Check out these other poetic posts:

• Bryan Borland: Poet Interview.
• Wednesday Poetry Prompts: 373.
• WD Poetic Form Challenge: Landay.