Authors and publishers usually have back lists — books published some time ago that can be republished. They’re a good way of capitalising on past work, especially when the books have been out of print for a while, or when the author has a potential new audience, perhaps in the form of younger readers.

There is a lot you can do with a back list of books, such as:

• Publish a new edition, with some updates.

• Publish a completely new, revised edition, that is rewritten from the ground up rather than just tweaked here and there.

• Publish a 10th anniversary edition.

• Republish the original edition, perhaps with a new cover.

I also think it’s useful to build up a back list of articles. This has come in handy recently, especially on my education blog, because I’ve not been well enough to write a lot of original articles recently. (I became ill after visiting my local A & E just before Christmas. It may be a coincidence, but social distancing was being honoured more in the breach than the observance, some people were wearing masks as chin warmers, and others weren’t wearing masks at all. I realise this is the teacher in me coming out, but what on earth is the point of having rules if nobody bothers to enforce them?)

Anyway, as a result I have been republishing older articles, sometimes slightly amended, but mostly with a note to say I wrote this x years ago and it is still relevant today.

Other uses for older articles are:

• On This Day posts, in which you write about an article you published on this date x years ago.

• To be brought to readers’ attention, in case they missed it when you published it originally.

• Older articles can be added to as new information comes to light. For example, every so often I find out about another website that provides free-to-use illustrations, so I add them to an existing article, or publish a new and updated version of the article.

• To serve as the basis for new articles on the same theme, because one doesn’t always have to start with a blank sheet so to speak.

If you don’t already have a collection of articles that you can (legally) republish or rework, then today is as good a time as any to start.