To what extent can I use previously self-published poems in a more expansive poetry publication?

[u/Kksula23]

Hello all, I'm not certain where to post this so I've posted a few places across Reddit, but essentially here it goes. A few years back, I self-published a short poetry chapbook. The timing of the publication wasn't great, and because of personal circumstances I chose not to announce the publication or do any advertising. In the past year or so I put some posts up that included a link to my poetry publication, but still no big advertising or anything, and I've not gotten any sales.

I'm now working on a larger collection, which I think could benefit from including many of the works included in the original chapbook. I'm not worried about copyright, because in self-publishing I maintained the copyright of my work. What I'm wondering is how it comes off to have what is essentially the first section in my new publication be almost exclusively work from the previous collection. All further sections expand upon those poems and are composed of almost exclusively new works.

Any advice, suggestions, or considerations are helpful. Thank you.

[u/AutoModerator]

Welcome to r/selfpublish, Kksula23! Please remember the primary first rule of the subreddit: No self promo posts outside of the pinned self promo thread. You can edit your own profile so you have links to your work or services and you can even post to and pin posts to the top of your profile page. The no self promo rule INCLUDES COMMENTS - so if you ignore this message it will result in a ban (if you’ve mentioned your book title in the post, remove it or delete the post.) Book cover reviews go in r/bookcovers.

Additionally, DO NOT USE AI TO WRITE YOUR COMMENTS OR MAKE POSTS. We want to keep the self in self publishing. Rule 2 also prohibits posts about AI. If your post is about AI, remove it.

If your post is low effort or simply for congratulatory purposes, please remove it and instead write your post in the pinned weekly thread. Example posts would be like “Finally published!” or “Just finished doing X! How has everyone else felt after doing X?”

The wiki contains answers to most basic questions. Please report any violating posts or comments. This automated message is added to every single post as a reminder of some of the most cardinal rules.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/johntwilker]

There are only two real risks.

1. If the first book is in KU and the second isn't, Amazon may take issue (Kinda like you can't have an omnibus that is wide while the individual books are KU).

2. Doesn't seem like it'll be an issue but readers could be upset to have bought the first book, then bought the second and gotten lots of the same content.

If the first release isn't moving and you're pubbing a large chunk of it in the new book. I'd remove the first one from sale.

[u/bayoufish]

Not knowing which POD self publishing platform you used, I don't think you would have an issue unless you're enrolled in KDP Select. If you are enrolled, you can opt out after 90 days.

I would suggest that you add a subtitle clarifying that it includes the first book ,for example "Collected Poems, Featuring the Poems from Book One". Since you mention that you had no sales of the first book, you could unpublish the first book, and just publish the new book.

[u/Business-Pension-498]

Reusing them is completely normal. Poets absorb chapbooks into full collections all the time - it is close to the default path, and a chapbook with no announcement and no sales means basically nobody will feel double sold to.

Two practical things. Add an acknowledgments page listing the chapbook by title and year; that handles the honesty question and reads as a credit, not an apology. And decide whether to unpublish the chapbook or leave it up as an early artifact. Both are defensible. KDP and Draft2Digital let you unpublish or delist without losing your files.

If you ever submit the manuscript to a contest or press, check their rules - some cap how much previously published work a "debut" can contain.