#title punctuation tips

We all know that titles and other headings influence whether or not audiences engage.  

Who doesn’t judge a book by its cover or a business by its billboard!

Indeed, readers not only form perceptions and make decisions about the communication vehicle and its source because of what a title says, but they also connect or disconnect based upon how those introductory words appear.

Quite commonly, people don’t know how to punctuate titles correctly, particularly in terms of capitalizing various words, and random uppercase and lowercase usage can be a highly distracting and detracting feature of titles and other headings.  Let’s clear up any confusion by demonstrating fundamental guidelines with the following book titles:

Title Capitalization Rules

1. Capitalize the first and last words of a title.

The Hobbit

2. Capitalize the first word following a colon within a title.

Make It Ahead: A Barefoot Contessa Cookbook

3. Capitalize all nouns and pronouns.

She’s Having a Baby—and I’m Having a Breakdown

4. Capitalize all verb forms.

The Man Who Would Be King

5. Capitalize all adjectives and adverbs.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

6. Do not capitalize articles—a, an or the—unless they are first in the title.

12 Years a Slave

7. Do not capitalize conjunctions—and, or, but, nor, for, etc.—unless they are principle words.

All Creatures Great and Small

8. Do not capitalize prepositions—of, in, for, with, etc.—unless they are principle words.  Exception: If following AP style, you would capitalize longer prepositions like between and versus.

All of Me

Nonconventional Exceptions

Certain references guides and organizations follow the conventional rules but also capitalize all words in a title that contain four letters or more. Others simply capitalize all words. If you decide to follow a nonconventional format, then my best advice is to stick to it.

Consistency among main titles, headings, subheadings and chapter titles is especially important within a particular communication (like a book, article, website or presentation), as well as within a campaign or other initiative that contains a number of related communications.

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My best to you,