diff --git a/README.rst b/README.rst
index 1493bce..6a1c170 100644
--- a/README.rst
+++ b/README.rst
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ Using PIP via Github (more likely the latest version)::
 Python scripts are unlikely to be included in your ``$PATH`` by default, this means it cannot be run directly in terminal with ``$ github-backup ...``, you can either add python's install path to your environments ``$PATH`` or call the script directly e.g. using ``$ ~/.local/bin/github-backup``.*
 
 Basic Help
-===========
+==========
 
 Show the CLI help output::
 
@@ -220,7 +220,7 @@ Cloning all starred size
 Using the ``--all-starred`` argument to clone all starred repositories may use a large amount of storage space, especially if ``--all`` or more arguments are used. e.g. commonly starred repos can have tens of thousands of issues, many large assets and the repo itself etc. Consider just storing links to starred repos in JSON format with ``--starred``.
 
 Incremental Backup
--------------------
+------------------
 
 Using (``-i, --incremental``) will only request new data from the API **since the last run (successful or not)**. e.g. only request issues from the API since the last run. 
 
@@ -249,7 +249,7 @@ It's therefore recommended to only use the incremental argument if the output/re
 
 
 "bare" is actually "mirror"
---------------------------
+---------------------------
 
 Using the bare clone argument (``--bare``) will actually call git's ``clone --mirror`` command. There's a subtle difference between `bare <https://www.git-scm.com/docs/git-clone#Documentation/git-clone.txt---bare>`_ and `mirror <https://www.git-scm.com/docs/git-clone#Documentation/git-clone.txt---mirror>`_ clone.
 
@@ -263,13 +263,13 @@ The starred normal repo cloning (``--all-starred``) argument stores starred repo
 
 
 Skip existing on incomplete backups
--------------------------------------------------------
+-----------------------------------
 
 The ``--skip-existing`` argument will skip a backup if the directory already exists, even if the backup in that directory failed (perhaps due to a blocking error). This may result in unexpected missing data in a regular backup.
 
 
 Github Backup Examples
-========
+======================
 
 Backup all repositories, including private ones using a classic token::
 
diff --git a/release b/release
index 21a14f7..4238245 100755
--- a/release
+++ b/release
@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
-set -eo pipefail; [[ $RELEASE_TRACE ]] && set -x
+set -eo pipefail
+[[ $RELEASE_TRACE ]] && set -x
 
 if [[ ! -f setup.py ]]; then
-  echo -e "${RED}WARNING: Missing setup.py${COLOR_OFF}\n"
-  exit 1
+    echo -e "${RED}WARNING: Missing setup.py${COLOR_OFF}\n"
+    exit 1
 fi
 
 PACKAGE_NAME="$(cat setup.py | grep 'name="' | head | cut -d '"' -f2)"
@@ -11,27 +12,27 @@ INIT_PACKAGE_NAME="$(echo "${PACKAGE_NAME//-/_}")"
 PUBLIC="true"
 
 # Colors
-COLOR_OFF="\033[0m"   # unsets color to term fg color
-RED="\033[0;31m"      # red
-GREEN="\033[0;32m"    # green
-YELLOW="\033[0;33m"   # yellow
-MAGENTA="\033[0;35m"  # magenta
-CYAN="\033[0;36m"     # cyan
+COLOR_OFF="\033[0m"  # unsets color to term fg color
+RED="\033[0;31m"     # red
+GREEN="\033[0;32m"   # green
+YELLOW="\033[0;33m"  # yellow
+MAGENTA="\033[0;35m" # magenta
+CYAN="\033[0;36m"    # cyan
 
 # ensure wheel is available
-pip install wheel > /dev/null
+pip install wheel >/dev/null
 
 command -v gitchangelog >/dev/null 2>&1 || {
     echo -e "${RED}WARNING: Missing gitchangelog binary, please run: pip install gitchangelog==3.0.4${COLOR_OFF}\n"
     exit 1
 }
 
-command -v rst-lint > /dev/null || {
+command -v rst-lint >/dev/null || {
     echo -e "${RED}WARNING: Missing rst-lint binary, please run: pip install restructuredtext_lint${COLOR_OFF}\n"
     exit 1
 }
 
-command -v twine > /dev/null || {
+command -v twine >/dev/null || {
     echo -e "${RED}WARNING: Missing twine binary, please run: pip install twine==3.2.0${COLOR_OFF}\n"
     exit 1
 }
@@ -43,41 +44,41 @@ fi
 
 echo -e "\n${GREEN}STARTING RELEASE PROCESS${COLOR_OFF}\n"
 
-set +e;
-git status | grep -Eo "working (directory|tree) clean" &> /dev/null
+set +e
+git status | grep -Eo "working (directory|tree) clean" &>/dev/null
 if [ ! $? -eq 0 ]; then # working directory is NOT clean
     echo -e "${RED}WARNING: You have uncomitted changes, you may have forgotten something${COLOR_OFF}\n"
     exit 1
 fi
-set -e;
+set -e
 
 echo -e "${YELLOW}--->${COLOR_OFF} Updating local copy"
 git pull -q origin master
 
 echo -e "${YELLOW}--->${COLOR_OFF} Retrieving release versions"
 
-current_version=$(cat ${INIT_PACKAGE_NAME}/__init__.py |grep '__version__ ='|sed 's/[^0-9.]//g')
+current_version=$(cat ${INIT_PACKAGE_NAME}/__init__.py | grep '__version__ =' | sed 's/[^0-9.]//g')
 major=$(echo $current_version | awk '{split($0,a,"."); print a[1]}')
 minor=$(echo $current_version | awk '{split($0,a,"."); print a[2]}')
 patch=$(echo $current_version | awk '{split($0,a,"."); print a[3]}')
 
 if [[ "$@" == "major" ]]; then
-    major=$(($major + 1));
+    major=$(($major + 1))
     minor="0"
     patch="0"
 elif [[ "$@" == "minor" ]]; then
-    minor=$(($minor + 1));
+    minor=$(($minor + 1))
     patch="0"
 elif [[ "$@" == "patch" ]]; then
-    patch=$(($patch + 1));
+    patch=$(($patch + 1))
 fi
 
 next_version="${major}.${minor}.${patch}"
 
-echo -e  "${YELLOW}   >${COLOR_OFF} ${MAGENTA}${current_version}${COLOR_OFF} -> ${MAGENTA}${next_version}${COLOR_OFF}"
+echo -e "${YELLOW}   >${COLOR_OFF} ${MAGENTA}${current_version}${COLOR_OFF} -> ${MAGENTA}${next_version}${COLOR_OFF}"
 
 echo -e "${YELLOW}--->${COLOR_OFF} Ensuring readme passes lint checks (if this fails, run rst-lint)"
-rst-lint README.rst > /dev/null
+rst-lint README.rst || exit 1
 
 echo -e "${YELLOW}--->${COLOR_OFF} Creating necessary temp file"
 tempfoo=$(basename $0)
@@ -90,23 +91,25 @@ find_this="__version__ = \"$current_version\""
 replace_with="__version__ = \"$next_version\""
 
 echo -e "${YELLOW}--->${COLOR_OFF} Updating ${INIT_PACKAGE_NAME}/__init__.py"
-sed "s/$find_this/$replace_with/" ${INIT_PACKAGE_NAME}/__init__.py > $TMPFILE && mv $TMPFILE ${INIT_PACKAGE_NAME}/__init__.py
+sed "s/$find_this/$replace_with/" ${INIT_PACKAGE_NAME}/__init__.py >$TMPFILE && mv $TMPFILE ${INIT_PACKAGE_NAME}/__init__.py
 
 if [ -f docs/conf.py ]; then
     echo -e "${YELLOW}--->${COLOR_OFF} Updating docs"
     find_this="version = '${current_version}'"
     replace_with="version = '${next_version}'"
-    sed "s/$find_this/$replace_with/" docs/conf.py > $TMPFILE && mv $TMPFILE docs/conf.py
+    sed "s/$find_this/$replace_with/" docs/conf.py >$TMPFILE && mv $TMPFILE docs/conf.py
 
     find_this="version = '${current_version}'"
     replace_with="release = '${next_version}'"
-    sed "s/$find_this/$replace_with/" docs/conf.py > $TMPFILE && mv $TMPFILE docs/conf.py
+    sed "s/$find_this/$replace_with/" docs/conf.py >$TMPFILE && mv $TMPFILE docs/conf.py
 fi
 
 echo -e "${YELLOW}--->${COLOR_OFF} Updating CHANGES.rst for new release"
 version_header="$next_version ($(date +%F))"
-set +e; dashes=$(yes '-'|head -n ${#version_header}|tr -d '\n') ; set -e
-gitchangelog |sed "4s/.*/$version_header/"|sed "5s/.*/$dashes/" > $TMPFILE && mv $TMPFILE CHANGES.rst
+set +e
+dashes=$(yes '-' | head -n ${#version_header} | tr -d '\n')
+set -e
+gitchangelog | sed "4s/.*/$version_header/" | sed "5s/.*/$dashes/" >$TMPFILE && mv $TMPFILE CHANGES.rst
 
 echo -e "${YELLOW}--->${COLOR_OFF} Adding changed files to git"
 git add CHANGES.rst README.rst ${INIT_PACKAGE_NAME}/__init__.py
@@ -124,7 +127,7 @@ git push -q origin master && git push -q --tags
 if [[ "$PUBLIC" == "true" ]]; then
     echo -e "${YELLOW}--->${COLOR_OFF} Creating python release"
     cp README.rst README
-    python setup.py sdist bdist_wheel > /dev/null
+    python setup.py sdist bdist_wheel >/dev/null
     twine upload dist/*
     rm README
 fi