Choose a title for your book. This title, like the titles of individual poems, should not merely summarize the contents of the book, but should in some way shape the collection itself, giving the reader a lens through which to read and approach the poems. Often, titles of poetry collections come from an individual poem title, but this is not a necessity. Create a title for the book that will inform the reader and direct his experience of the poems the book contains.
Arrange the poems in an order that conveys the narrative or emotional arc that you desire. In your ordering, make sure that there is no confusion in character or subject in consecutive poems. For example, if there is a "you" in the first poem, be sure that the "you" in the following poem is either the same, or clearly defined as different. Insert section breaks to divide poems by subject matter or chronology if needed. Place one of the best poems at the very beginning of the book, and one at the very end so that the collection opens and closes strongly.
Write a list of acknowledgements. Include any journals or anthologies in which individual poems in the book have been published previously. List also any individual persons whom you would like to thank for their assistance with the poems or evolving manuscript.
Save your poems on a computer, if they are not already on one. Copy them into a blank document, adding in any section titles or breaks in the appropriate places. Insert a title page, and then the acknowledgements page. Insert a section break between this fore-matter and the poems themselves. Add lower case roman numerals to label the fore-matter pages. Then apply regular page numbers to the rest of the book.
Create a table of contents. List the titles of the poems flush with the left margin. Type their corresponding page numbers approximately 10 spaces to the right. Check your document over for accuracy when you have finished.