diff --git a/README.asc b/README.asc
index 98b568465..53ed6f75f 100644
--- a/README.asc
+++ b/README.asc
@@ -29,6 +29,27 @@ Converting to PDF...
  -- PDF output at progit.pdf
 ----
 
+You can generate just one of the supported formats (HTML, EPUB, or PDF).
+Use one of the following commands:
+
+To generate the HTML book:
+
+----
+$ bundle exec rake book:build_html
+----
+
+To generate the EPUB book:
+
+----
+$ bundle exec rake book:build_epub
+----
+
+To generate the PDF book:
+
+----
+$ bundle exec rake book:build_pdf
+----
+
 == Signaling an Issue
 
 Before signaling an issue, please check that there isn't already a similar one in the bug tracking system.
diff --git a/Rakefile b/Rakefile
index bfd5f68be..3be04e0be 100644
--- a/Rakefile
+++ b/Rakefile
@@ -6,31 +6,84 @@ namespace :book do
     end
   end
 
-  desc 'build basic book formats'
-  task :build do
+  # Variables referenced for build
+  version_string = ENV['TRAVIS_TAG'] || `git describe --tags`.chomp
+  if version_string.empty?
+    version_string = '0'
+  end
+  date_string = Time.now.strftime('%Y-%m-%d')
+  params = "--attribute revnumber='#{version_string}' --attribute revdate='#{date_string}'"
+  header_hash = `git rev-parse --short HEAD`.strip
 
-    begin
-      version_string = ENV['TRAVIS_TAG'] || `git describe --tags`.chomp
-      if version_string.empty?
-        version_string = '0'
+  # Check contributors list
+  # This checks commit hash stored in the header of list against current HEAD
+  def check_contrib
+    if File.exist?('book/contributors.txt')
+      current_head_hash = `git rev-parse --short HEAD`.strip
+      header = `head -n 1 book/contributors.txt`.strip
+      # Match regex, then coerce resulting array to string by join
+      header_hash = header.scan(/[a-f0-9]{7,}/).join
+
+      if header_hash == current_head_hash
+        puts "Hash on header of contributors list (#{header_hash}) matches the current HEAD (#{current_head_hash})"
+      else
+        puts "Hash on header of contributors list (#{header_hash}) does not match the current HEAD (#{current_head_hash}), refreshing"
+        `rm book/contributors.txt`
+        # Reenable and invoke task again
+        Rake::Task['book/contributors.txt'].reenable
+        Rake::Task['book/contributors.txt'].invoke
       end
-      date_string = Time.now.strftime("%Y-%m-%d")
-      params = "--attribute revnumber='#{version_string}' --attribute revdate='#{date_string}'"
-      puts "Generating contributors list"
-      `git shortlog -s | grep -v -E "(Straub|Chacon|dependabot)" | cut -f 2- | column -c 120 > book/contributors.txt`
+    end
+  end
+
+  desc 'build basic book formats'
+  task :build => [:build_html, :build_epub, :build_pdf] do
+    begin
+        # Run check
+        Rake::Task['book:check'].invoke
 
-      puts "Converting to HTML..."
+        # Rescue to ignore checking errors
+        rescue => e
+        puts e.message
+        puts 'Error when checking books (ignored)'
+    end
+  end
+
+  desc 'build basic book formats (for ci)'
+  task :ci => [:build_html, :build_epub, :build_pdf] do
+      # Run check, but don't ignore any errors
+      Rake::Task['book:check'].invoke
+  end
+
+  desc 'generate contributors list'
+  file 'book/contributors.txt' do
+      puts 'Generating contributors list'
+      `echo "Contributors as of #{header_hash}:\n" > book/contributors.txt`
+      `git shortlog -s | grep -v -E "(Straub|Chacon|dependabot)" | cut -f 2- | column -c 120 >> book/contributors.txt`
+  end
+
+  desc 'build HTML format'
+  task :build_html => 'book/contributors.txt' do
+      check_contrib()
+
+      puts 'Converting to HTML...'
       `bundle exec asciidoctor #{params} -a data-uri progit.asc`
-      puts " -- HTML output at progit.html"
+      puts ' -- HTML output at progit.html'
 
-      exec_or_raise('htmlproofer --check-html progit.html')
+  end
+
+  desc 'build Epub format'
+  task :build_epub => 'book/contributors.txt' do
+      check_contrib()
 
-      puts "Converting to EPub..."
+      puts 'Converting to EPub...'
       `bundle exec asciidoctor-epub3 #{params} progit.asc`
-      puts " -- Epub output at progit.epub"
+      puts ' -- Epub output at progit.epub'
 
-      exec_or_raise('epubcheck progit.epub')
+  end
 
+  desc 'build Mobi format'
+  task :build_mobi => 'book/contributors.txt' do
       # Commented out the .mobi file creation because the kindlegen dependency is not available.
       # For more information on this see: #1496.
       # This is a (hopefully) temporary fix until upstream asciidoctor-epub3 is fixed and we can offer .mobi files again.
@@ -39,12 +92,47 @@ namespace :book do
       # `bundle exec asciidoctor-epub3 #{params} -a ebook-format=kf8 progit.asc`
       # puts " -- Mobi output at progit.mobi"
 
-      puts "Converting to PDF... (this one takes a while)"
+      # FIXME: If asciidoctor-epub3 supports Mobi again, uncomment these lines below
+      puts "Converting to Mobi isn't supported yet."
+      puts "For more information see issue #1496 at https://github.com/progit/progit2/issues/1496."
+      exit(127)
+  end
+
+  desc 'build PDF format'
+  task :build_pdf => 'book/contributors.txt' do
+      check_contrib()
+
+      puts 'Converting to PDF... (this one takes a while)'
       `bundle exec asciidoctor-pdf #{params} progit.asc 2>/dev/null`
-      puts " -- PDF output at progit.pdf"
+      puts ' -- PDF output at progit.pdf'
+  end
+
+  desc 'Check generated books'
+  task :check => [:build_html, :build_epub] do
+      puts 'Checking generated books'
 
+      exec_or_raise('htmlproofer --check-html progit.html')
+      exec_or_raise('epubcheck progit.epub')
+  end
+
+  desc 'Clean all generated files'
+  task :clean do
+    begin
+        puts 'Removing generated files'
+
+        FileList['book/contributors.txt', 'progit.html', 'progit.epub', 'progit.pdf'].each do |file|
+            rm file
+
+            # Rescue if file not found
+            rescue Errno::ENOENT => e
+              begin
+                  puts e.message
+                  puts 'Error removing files (ignored)'
+              end
+        end
     end
   end
+
 end
 
 task :default => "book:build"