diff --git a/modules/check-ownership.js b/modules/check-ownership.js
index 1196f41..7eca67f 100644
--- a/modules/check-ownership.js
+++ b/modules/check-ownership.js
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 const cp = require('child_process')
+      fs = require('fs')
       path = require('path');
 
 module.exports = (details, publish) => {
@@ -6,12 +7,12 @@ module.exports = (details, publish) => {
   const ownership = (ownedLines / size) * 100;
   const publishFile = path.join(process.cwd(), config.publish);
 
-  if (ownership >= config.threshold /*&& author !== currentAuthor*/) {
+  if (ownership >= config.threshold && author !== currentAuthor) {
     if (publish)  {
       try {
         fs.statSync(publishFile).isFile();
       } catch (e) {
-        console.log('Your publish script does not seem to exist?');
+        console.log(`Your publish script (${publishFile}) does not seem to exist: ${e}`);
         process.exit(1);
       }

diff --git a/modules/check-ownership.js b/modules/check-ownership.js
index 1196f41..7a017c3 100644
--- a/modules/check-ownership.js
+++ b/modules/check-ownership.js
@@ -1,17 +1,18 @@
 const cp = require('child_process')
+      fs = require('fs')
       path = require('path');
 
 module.exports = (details, publish) => {
   const { size, ownedLines, author, filePath, currentAuthor, config } = details;
   const ownership = (ownedLines / size) * 100;
-  const publishFile = path.join(process.cwd(), config.publish);
+  const publishFile = config.publish;
 
-  if (ownership >= config.threshold /*&& author !== currentAuthor*/) {
+  if (ownership >= config.threshold && author !== currentAuthor) {
     if (publish)  {
       try {
         fs.statSync(publishFile).isFile();
       } catch (e) {
-        console.log('Your publish script does not seem to exist?');
+        console.log(`Your publish script (${publishFile}) does not seem to exist: ${e}`);
         process.exit(1);
       }
 
diff --git a/modules/read-config.js b/modules/read-config.js
index 5a270c9..47813fe 100644
--- a/modules/read-config.js
+++ b/modules/read-config.js
@@ -7,7 +7,8 @@ module.exports = ({ location = '.pythia-config', publish}) => {
   const configFile = fs.existsSync(filePath) ? readFile(filePath) : {};
   const exclude = configFile.exclude ? readFile(filePath).exclude : {};
   const threshold = configFile.threshold || 20;
-  const publishFinal = publish || configFile.publish || '.pythia-publish';
+  const publishBase = publish || configFile.publish || '.pythia-publish';
+  const publishPath = path.isAbsolute(publishBase) ? publishBase : path.join(process.cwd(), publishBase);
 
   ['users', 'directories', 'files'].forEach((item) => {
     if (typeof exclude[item] === 'undefined') {
@@ -15,11 +16,11 @@ module.exports = ({ location = '.pythia-config', publish}) => {
     }
   });
 
-  if (publish) {
+  if (publishPath) {
     try {
-      fs.statSync(path.join(process.cwd(), publish)).isFile();
+      fs.statSync(publishPath).isFile();
     } catch (e) {
-      console.log('Please provide a file with your --publish or -p flag');
+      console.log(`Please provide a file with your --publish or -p flag (${publishPath} does not exist)`);
       process.exit(1);
     }
   }
@@ -27,6 +28,6 @@ module.exports = ({ location = '.pythia-config', publish}) => {
   return {
   	exclude,
     threshold,
-    publish: publishFinal
+    publish: publishPath
   };
 };