diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 39434c1..2a7ee00 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
 # Next version (unreleased)
 
-Adding a cli
\ No newline at end of file
+PUT_CHANGELOG_HERE
+
+# Version 0.0.3
+_2024-06-19_
+
+Adding a cli
diff --git a/core/src/main/kotlin/com/gradleup/librarian/core/tooling/release.kt b/core/src/main/kotlin/com/gradleup/librarian/core/tooling/release.kt
index d7ea1b7..869250b 100644
--- a/core/src/main/kotlin/com/gradleup/librarian/core/tooling/release.kt
+++ b/core/src/main/kotlin/com/gradleup/librarian/core/tooling/release.kt
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 package com.gradleup.librarian.core.tooling
 
 import java.io.File
-import kotlin.system.exitProcess
 
 internal fun checkCwd() {
   File(".git").apply {
@@ -22,20 +21,19 @@ fun commitRelease(versionToRelease: String) {
     "Version '${getCurrentVersion()} is not a -SNAPSHOT, check your working directory"
   }
 
-  if (runCommand("git", "status", "--porcelain").isNotEmpty()) {
-    println("Your git repo is not clean. Make sure to stash or commit your changes before making a release")
-    exitProcess(1)
+  check (runCommand("git", "status", "--porcelain").isEmpty()) {
+    "Your git repo is not clean. Make sure to stash or commit your changes before making a release"
   }
 
-  processChangelog(versionToRelease)
-
   val startBranch = runCommand("git", "symbolic-ref", "--short", "HEAD")
   check(startBranch == "main" || startBranch.startsWith("release-")) {
     "You must be on the main branch or a release branch to make a release"
   }
 
+  processChangelog(versionToRelease)
+
   // 'De-snapshot' the version, open a PR, and merge it
-  val releaseBranchName = "release-$versionToRelease"
+  val releaseBranchName = "$versionToRelease-release"
   runCommand("git", "checkout", "-b", releaseBranchName)
   setCurrentVersion(versionToRelease)
   setVersionInDocs(versionToRelease)
@@ -57,7 +55,7 @@ fun commitRelease(versionToRelease: String) {
   println("Tag pushed.")
 
   // Bump the version to the next snapshot
-  val bumpVersionBranchName = "release-$versionToRelease-bump-snapshot"
+  val bumpVersionBranchName = "$versionToRelease-bump-snapshot"
   runCommand("git", "checkout", "-b", bumpVersionBranchName)
 
   val nextSnapshot = getNextSnapshot(versionToRelease)
diff --git a/librarian.properties b/librarian.properties
index 238a854..be09f52 100644
--- a/librarian.properties
+++ b/librarian.properties
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ sonatype.host=Default
 git.snapshots=main
 
 pom.groupId=com.gradleup.librarian
-pom.version=0.0.3-SNAPSHOT
+pom.version=0.0.3
 pom.description=Librarian
 pom.vcsUrl=https://github.com/gradleup/librarian
 pom.developer=GradleUp authors