diff --git a/publish b/publish
index 950dfd9..2b59dec 100755
--- a/publish
+++ b/publish
@@ -1,5 +1,10 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 
+die () {
+  echo "$1" >/dev/stderr
+  exit 1
+}
+
 echo "started build"
 
 # make build directory and copy original files there for preflighting
@@ -16,68 +21,68 @@ echo "minimizing HTML"
 
 # minimize HTML (NB: this script is quite fragile and relies on knowledge of how I write HTML)
 for f in *.html; do
-  python3 util/htmlminimizer.py "$f" build/"$f"
+  python3 util/htmlminimizer.py "$f" build/"$f" || die "Failed to minimize $f"
 done
 
 # build sitemap
-ls build/*.html | sed -e "s|build/|http://diveintopython3.org/|g" -e "s|/index.html|/|g" > build/sitemap.txt
+ls build/*.html | sed -e "s|build/|http://diveintopython3.org/|g" -e "s|/index.html|/|g" > build/sitemap.txt || die "Failed to build sitemap"
 
 echo "adding evil tracking code"
 
 # add Google Analytics script
 for f in build/*.html; do
-  cat "$f" j/ga.js > build/tmp
-  mv build/tmp "$f"
+  cat "$f" j/ga.js > build/tmp && \
+      mv build/tmp "$f" || die "Could not add tracking code to $f"
 done
 
 # minimize JS and CSS
 echo "minimizing JS"
 revision=`hg log|grep changeset|cut -d":" -f3|head -1`
-java -jar util/yuicompressor-2.4.2.jar build/j/prettify.js > build/j/prettify.min.js
-java -jar util/yuicompressor-2.4.2.jar build/j/dip3.js > build/j/dip3.min.js
+java -jar util/yuicompressor-2.4.2.jar build/j/prettify.js > build/j/prettify.min.js && \
+    java -jar util/yuicompressor-2.4.2.jar build/j/dip3.js > build/j/dip3.min.js || die "Failed to minimize JS"
 
 # combine jQuery and our script
 echo "combining JS"
-cat build/j/jquery.min.js build/j/prettify.min.js build/j/dip3.min.js > build/j/$revision.js
-sed -i -e "s|<script src=j/jquery.js></script>||g" build/*.html
-sed -i -e "s|<script src=j/prettify.js></script>||g" build/*.html
-sed -i -e "s|<script src=j/dip3.js>|<script src=j/${revision}.js>|g" build/*.html
+cat build/j/jquery.min.js build/j/prettify.min.js build/j/dip3.min.js > build/j/$revision.js && \
+    sed -i -e "s|<script src=j/jquery.js></script>||g" build/*.html || && \
+    sed -i -e "s|<script src=j/prettify.js></script>||g" build/*.html || && \
+    sed -i -e "s|<script src=j/dip3.js>|<script src=j/${revision}.js>|g" build/*.html || die "Failed to combine JS"
 
 echo "minimizing CSS"
-java -jar util/yuicompressor-2.4.2.jar build/dip3.css > build/$revision.css
-java -jar util/yuicompressor-2.4.2.jar build/mobile.css > build/m-$revision.css
-java -jar util/yuicompressor-2.4.2.jar build/print.css > build/p-$revision.css
-sed -i -e "s|;}|}|g" build/$revision.css
-sed -i -e "s|;}|}|g" build/m-$revision.css
-sed -i -e "s|;}|}|g" build/p-$revision.css
+java -jar util/yuicompressor-2.4.2.jar build/dip3.css > build/$revision.css && \
+    java -jar util/yuicompressor-2.4.2.jar build/mobile.css > build/m-$revision.css && \
+    java -jar util/yuicompressor-2.4.2.jar build/print.css > build/p-$revision.css && \
+    sed -i -e "s|;}|}|g" build/$revision.css && \
+    sed -i -e "s|;}|}|g" build/m-$revision.css && \
+    sed -i -e "s|;}|}|g" build/p-$revision.css || die "Failed to minimize CSS"
 
 # put CSS inline
 echo "inlining CSS"
 css=`cat build/$revision.css`
 mobilecss=`cat build/m-$revision.css`
 printcss=`cat build/p-$revision.css`
-sed -i -e "s|<link rel=stylesheet href=dip3.css>|<style>${css}</style>|g" -e "s|<link rel=stylesheet media='only screen and (max-device-width: 480px)' href=mobile.css>|<style>@media screen and (max-device-width:480px){${mobilecss}}</style>|g" -e "s|<link rel=stylesheet media=print href=print.css>|<style>@media print{${printcss}}</style>|g" -e "s|</style><style>||g" build/*.html
+sed -i -e "s|<link rel=stylesheet href=dip3.css>|<style>${css}</style>|g" -e "s|<link rel=stylesheet media='only screen and (max-device-width: 480px)' href=mobile.css>|<style>@media screen and (max-device-width:480px){${mobilecss}}</style>|g" -e "s|<link rel=stylesheet media=print href=print.css>|<style>@media print{${printcss}}</style>|g" -e "s|</style><style>||g" build/*.html || die "Failed to inline CSS"
 
 # remove unused CSS properties on a page-by-page basis
 echo "removing unused CSS"
 for f in build/*.html; do
-  python2.6 util/lesscss.py "$f"
+  python2.6 util/lesscss.py "$f" || die "Failed to remove unused CSS"
 done
 
 # minimize URLs
 echo "minimizing URLs"
-sed -i -e "s|=http:|=|g" build/*.html
-sed -i -e "s|href=index.html|href=/|g" build/*.html
+sed -i -e "s|=http:|=|g" build/*.html && \
+    sed -i -e "s|href=index.html|href=/|g" build/*.html || die "Failed to minimize URLs"
 
 # set file permissions (hg resets these, don't know why)
-chmod 755 build/examples build/j build/i
-chmod 644 build/*.html build/*.css build/*.txt build/examples/* build/examples/.htaccess build/j/* build/j/.htaccess build/i/* build/i/.htaccess build/.htaccess
+chmod 755 build/examples build/j build/i && \
+    chmod 644 build/*.html build/*.css build/*.txt build/examples/* build/examples/.htaccess build/j/* build/j/.htaccess build/i/* build/i/.htaccess build/.htaccess || die "Failed to reset file permissions"
 
 # ship it!
 echo -n "publishing"
-rsync -essh -a build/i/* build/i/.htaccess diveintomark.org:~/web/wearehugh.com/dip3/
-echo -n "."
-rsync -essh -a build/j/$revision.js build/j/html5.js build/j/.htaccess diveintomark.org:~/web/diveintopython3.org/j/
-echo -n "."
-rsync -essh -a build/examples build/*.txt build/*.html build/.htaccess diveintomark.org:~/web/diveintopython3.org/
-echo "."
+rsync -essh -a build/i/* build/i/.htaccess diveintomark.org:~/web/wearehugh.com/dip3/ && \
+    echo -n "." && \
+    rsync -essh -a build/j/$revision.js build/j/html5.js build/j/.htaccess diveintomark.org:~/web/diveintopython3.org/j/ && \
+    echo -n "." && \
+    rsync -essh -a build/examples build/*.txt build/*.html build/.htaccess diveintomark.org:~/web/diveintopython3.org/ && \
+    echo "." || die "Failed to publish to remote server"