diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 3a0dba1..152eea9 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -4,4 +4,5 @@ node_modules
 .DS_Store
 coverage
 .nyc_output
-lib/
\ No newline at end of file
+lib/
+yarn.lock
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 3b3cd17..d20b3a8 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ Plugins are listed in the recommended order:
 | 1. | githubVerify | verifies `GH_TOKEN` or `GITHUB_TOKEN` and repo permissions. |
 | 2. | npmVerify | verifies `NPM_TOKEN`. |
 | 3. | analyzeCommits | analyzes commit history and determines version type. |
-| 4. | updatePackageJSON | updates package version and versions of dependencies. |
+| 4. | updatePackage | updates package version and versions of dependencies. |
 | 5. | releaseNotes | generates release notes for GitHub release. |
 | 6. | githubPublish | publishes a new release to GitHub. |
 | 7. | npmPublish | publishes the package to npm. |
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ const projectPackages = [
     {
         name: 'package-1',
         location: '/my/project/packages/package-1',
-        packageJSON: {
+        package: {
             // Here goes the ENTIRE content of `package.json` file
             name: 'package-1',
             version: '0.0.0-semantically-released',
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ wsr.release({
         wsr.npmVerify(),
         wsr.analyzeCommits(),
         wsr.releaseNotes(),
-        wsr.updatePackageJSON(),
+        wsr.updatePackage(),
         wsr.githubPublish(),
         wsr.npmPublish()
     ]
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ const packages = PackageUtilities.getPackages(new Repository())
         return {
             name: pkg.name,
             location: pkg.location,
-            packageJSON: pkg.toJSON()
+            package: pkg.toJSON()
         };
     });
 ```
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ These Flow types will make everything much clearer:
 declare type Package = {
     name: string,
     location: string,
-    packageJSON: Object
+    package: Object
 };
 
 declare type Params = {
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index d0e4fc2..5bcf084 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@
     "p-reduce": "^1.0.0",
     "pre-commit": "^1.2.2",
     "prettier": "^1.10.2",
-    "proxyquire": "^2.0.0",
+    "proxyquire": "2.0.0",
     "sinon": "^4.4.2",
     "source-map-support": "^0.5.0",
     "tempy": "^0.2.1",
diff --git a/scripts/merge.js b/scripts/merge.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c9808b2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/merge.js
@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+
+/**
+ * [ MAINTAINERS ONLY ]
+ * This tool checks if there are any commits that are in branch A that are not in branch B
+ * and merges the branches. You will have to run `git push` yourself to confirm the merge.
+ *
+ * This tool is used to merge branches without creating PRs (as GitHub does) and avoid the annoying merge commit.
+ */
+
+const execa = require("execa");
+const yargs = require("yargs");
+const chalk = require("chalk");
+const gitLogParser = require("git-log-parser");
+const getStream = require("get-stream");
+
+const { argv } = yargs.command("$0 <from> <into>", "merge branches").help();
+
+function log(...args) {
+    const [format, ...rest] = args;
+    console.log(
+        `${chalk.grey("[WGIT]:")} ${format.replace(/%[^%]/g, seq => chalk.magenta(seq))}`,
+        ...rest
+    );
+}
+
+async function getCommits(gitHead) {
+    Object.assign(gitLogParser.fields, {
+        hash: "H",
+        message: "B",
+        gitTags: "d",
+        committerDate: { key: "ci", type: Date }
+    });
+
+    return (await getStream.array(
+        gitLogParser.parse({ _: `${gitHead ? gitHead + ".." : ""}HEAD` })
+    )).map(commit => {
+        commit.message = commit.message.trim();
+        commit.gitTags = commit.gitTags.trim();
+        return commit;
+    });
+}
+
+(async () => {
+    const { from, into } = argv;
+
+    log("Merging from %s into %s...", from, into);
+    const options = { stdio: "inherit" };
+
+    try {
+        await execa.shell("git fetch", options);
+        await execa.shell("git checkout " + into, options);
+        await execa.shell("git pull", options);
+        await execa.shell("git checkout " + from, options);
+
+        // Count commits on the "from" branch starting from merge-base to HEAD
+        const commits = await getCommits(into, from);
+        if (commits.length) {
+            log(`Found %s commit(s) that need to be merged:`, commits.length);
+            commits.map(c => {
+                log(`* ${c.subject} (%s)`, c.commit.short);
+            });
+            await execa.shell("git checkout " + into, options);
+            await execa.shell("git merge " + from, options);
+            log(
+                "Merge is complete. You must run %s yourself after you have verified everything is in order.",
+                "git push"
+            );
+        } else {
+            log(
+                "No new commits were found in branch %s that are not already in branch %s.",
+                from,
+                into
+            );
+        }
+        log("Exiting.");
+    } catch (err) {
+        console.error(err);
+        process.exit(1);
+    }
+})();
diff --git a/scripts/release.js b/scripts/release.js
index 237aa21..365d766 100644
--- a/scripts/release.js
+++ b/scripts/release.js
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ const config = {
         // Make sure "main" field does not start with `src/`
         ({ packages, logger }, next) => {
             packages.map(pkg => {
-                const json = pkg.packageJSON;
+                const json = pkg.package;
                 if (json.main && (json.main.startsWith("src/") || json.main.startsWith("./src/"))) {
                     logger.log(`Updating \`main\` field of %s`, pkg.name);
                     json.main = json.main.replace("src/", "lib/");
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ const config = {
             });
             next();
         },
-        wsr.updatePackageJSON(),
+        wsr.updatePackage(),
         ({ packages }, next) => {
             packages.map(pkg => {
                 if (pkg.nextRelease.version === "1.0.0") {
diff --git a/src/index.js b/src/index.js
index 9aa6064..763211e 100644
--- a/src/index.js
+++ b/src/index.js
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ import githubPublish from "./plugins/github/publish";
 import npmVerify from "./plugins/npm/verify";
 import npmPublish from "./plugins/npm/publish";
 import releaseNotes from "./plugins/releaseNotes";
-import updatePackageJSON from "./plugins/updatePackageJSON";
+import updatePackage from "./plugins/updatePackage";
 
 const release = async config => {
     const { params, plugins } = await buildParams(config);
@@ -37,6 +37,6 @@ export {
     npmVerify,
     npmPublish,
     releaseNotes,
-    updatePackageJSON,
+    updatePackage,
     getPackage
 };
diff --git a/src/plugins/npm/publish.js b/src/plugins/npm/publish.js
index 4f9c0a2..2f5dfa5 100644
--- a/src/plugins/npm/publish.js
+++ b/src/plugins/npm/publish.js
@@ -2,7 +2,9 @@ import execa from "execa";
 import path from "path";
 import fs from "fs-extra";
 
-export default () => {
+export default (config = {}) => {
+    const { registry, tag } = config;
+
     return async ({ packages, logger, config }, next) => {
         for (let i = 0; i < packages.length; i++) {
             const pkg = packages[i];
@@ -11,24 +13,33 @@ export default () => {
             }
 
             logger.log(
-                "Publishing %s version %s to npm registry",
+                "Publishing %s version %s to npm registry %s",
                 pkg.name,
-                pkg.nextRelease.version
+                pkg.nextRelease.version,
+                registry
             );
+
+            const command = [
+                `npm publish`,
+                tag ? `--tag ${tag}` : null,
+                registry ? `--registry ${registry}` : null,
+                pkg.location
+            ]
+                .filter(v => v)
+                .join(" ");
+
             if (config.preview) {
-                logger.log(`DRY: %s`, `npm publish ${pkg.location}`);
+                logger.log(`DRY: %s`, command);
             } else {
                 try {
                     // write the updated package.json to disk before publishing
-                    fs.writeJsonSync(path.join(pkg.location, "package.json"), pkg.packageJSON, {
+                    fs.writeJsonSync(path.join(pkg.location, "package.json"), pkg.package, {
                         spaces: 2
                     });
                     // We need to unset the `npm_` env variables to make sure local `.npmrc` is being read.
                     // This is required when running scripts with yarn: https://github.com/yarnpkg/yarn/issues/4475
                     const shell = await execa.shell(
-                        `unset $(env | awk -F= '$1 ~ /^npm_/ {print $1}') && npm publish ${
-                            pkg.location
-                        }`
+                        `unset $(env | awk -F= '$1 ~ /^npm_/ {print $1}') && ${command}`
                     );
                     logger.log(shell.stdout);
                     pkg.npmPublish = {
diff --git a/src/plugins/npm/verify.js b/src/plugins/npm/verify.js
index 2093467..588092a 100644
--- a/src/plugins/npm/verify.js
+++ b/src/plugins/npm/verify.js
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 import execa from "execa";
 import fs from "fs-extra";
 
-export default () => {
+export default (config = {}) => {
+    const { registry = "//registry.npmjs.org" } = config;
+
     return async ({ logger, config }, next) => {
         if (config.preview) {
             return next();
@@ -14,10 +16,12 @@ export default () => {
 
         logger.log("Verifying access to NPM...");
         try {
-            await fs.appendFile("./.npmrc", `\n//registry.npmjs.org/:_authToken=${NPM_TOKEN}`);
+            await fs.appendFile("./.npmrc", `\n${registry}/:_authToken=${NPM_TOKEN}`);
             // We need to unset the `npm_` env variables to make sure local `.npmrc` is being read.
             // This is required when running scripts with yarn: https://github.com/yarnpkg/yarn/issues/4475
-            await execa.shell("unset $(env | awk -F= '$1 ~ /^npm_/ {print $1}') && npm whoami");
+            await execa.shell(
+                `unset $(env | awk -F= '$1 ~ /^npm_/ {print $1}') && npm whoami --registry ${registry}`
+            );
             next();
         } catch (err) {
             throw new Error("EINVALIDNPMTOKEN: " + err.message);
diff --git a/src/plugins/updatePackageJSON/index.js b/src/plugins/updatePackage/index.js
similarity index 80%
rename from src/plugins/updatePackageJSON/index.js
rename to src/plugins/updatePackage/index.js
index 3984105..b7e095d 100644
--- a/src/plugins/updatePackageJSON/index.js
+++ b/src/plugins/updatePackage/index.js
@@ -28,9 +28,9 @@ export default () => {
             }
 
             // Update package.json data
-            pkg.packageJSON.version = pkg.nextRelease.version;
-            updateDeps(pkg.packageJSON.dependencies, packages);
-            updateDeps(pkg.packageJSON.devDependencies, packages);
+            pkg.package.version = pkg.nextRelease.version;
+            updateDeps(pkg.package.dependencies, packages);
+            updateDeps(pkg.package.devDependencies, packages);
         }
 
         next();
diff --git a/src/utils/buildParams.js b/src/utils/buildParams.js
index 702a400..e29622e 100644
--- a/src/utils/buildParams.js
+++ b/src/utils/buildParams.js
@@ -42,11 +42,11 @@ export default async config => {
     params.packages.map(pkg => {
         if (
             !pkg.hasOwnProperty("name") ||
-            !pkg.hasOwnProperty("packageJSON") ||
+            !pkg.hasOwnProperty("package") ||
             !pkg.hasOwnProperty("location")
         ) {
             throw new Error(
-                `EINVALIDPACKAGE: Packages MUST contain \`name\`, \`location\` and \`packageJSON\` keys.`
+                `EINVALIDPACKAGE: Packages MUST contain \`name\`, \`location\` and \`package\` keys.`
             );
         }
     });
diff --git a/src/utils/compose.js b/src/utils/compose.js
index 965f1bd..34fc783 100644
--- a/src/utils/compose.js
+++ b/src/utils/compose.js
@@ -6,8 +6,8 @@
  * @param {Array<Function>} functions functions
  * @return {Function}
  */
-export default function (functions: Array<Function> = []): Function {
-    return function (params: mixed): Promise<mixed> {
+export default function(functions: Array<Function> = []): Function {
+    return function(params: mixed): Promise<mixed> {
         // Create a clone of function chain to prevent modifying the original array with `shift()`
         const chain = [...functions];
         return new Promise((parentResolve, parentReject) => {
diff --git a/src/utils/getPackage.js b/src/utils/getPackage.js
index 8dde166..eae190a 100644
--- a/src/utils/getPackage.js
+++ b/src/utils/getPackage.js
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import readPkg from "read-pkg";
 /**
  * Get a single package
  * @param config
- * @returns {{name: string, location: string, packageJSON}}
+ * @returns {{name: string, location: string, package}}
  */
 export default (config = {}) => {
     const root = config.root || process.cwd();
@@ -11,6 +11,6 @@ export default (config = {}) => {
     return {
         name: pkg.name,
         location: root,
-        packageJSON: pkg
+        package: pkg
     };
 };
diff --git a/tests/analyzeCommits.test.js b/tests/analyzeCommits.test.js
index d518a49..53aa8c9 100644
--- a/tests/analyzeCommits.test.js
+++ b/tests/analyzeCommits.test.js
@@ -168,13 +168,16 @@ describe("analyzeCommits plugin test", function() {
 
         const isRelevant = (pkg, commit) => {
             if (commit.message.match(/affects:(.*)/)) {
-                return RegExp.$1.split(",").map(n => n.trim()).filter(name => pkg.name === name).length;
+                return RegExp.$1
+                    .split(",")
+                    .map(n => n.trim())
+                    .filter(name => pkg.name === name).length;
             }
         };
-        release = compose([analyzeCommitsFactory({isRelevant})]);
+        release = compose([analyzeCommitsFactory({ isRelevant })]);
 
         const params = {
-            packages: [{ name: "package-1" }, { name: "package-2" }, {name: "package-3"}],
+            packages: [{ name: "package-1" }, { name: "package-2" }, { name: "package-3" }],
             logger,
             git: new Git(),
             config: {
diff --git a/tests/buildParams.test.js b/tests/buildParams.test.js
index c801c7d..3f90c52 100644
--- a/tests/buildParams.test.js
+++ b/tests/buildParams.test.js
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ describe("build params test", () => {
 
     it("should build a valid default `params` object", async () => {
         const config = {
-            packages: [{ name: "package-1", location: "", packageJSON: {} }],
+            packages: [{ name: "package-1", location: "", package: {} }],
             tagFormat
         };
 
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ describe("build params test", () => {
             preview: true,
             repositoryUrl: "test",
             branch: "development",
-            packages: [{ name: "package-1", location: "", packageJSON: {} }],
+            packages: [{ name: "package-1", location: "", package: {} }],
             tagFormat
         };
 
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ describe("build params test", () => {
             preview: true,
             repositoryUrl: "test",
             branch: "development",
-            packages: [{ name: "package-1", location: "", packageJSON: {} }],
+            packages: [{ name: "package-1", location: "", package: {} }],
             tagFormat
         };
 
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ describe("build params test", () => {
 
     it("should convert `tagFormat` string into a function", async () => {
         const config = {
-            packages: [{ name: "package-1", location: "", packageJSON: {} }],
+            packages: [{ name: "package-1", location: "", package: {} }],
             tagFormat: "v${version}"
         };
 
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ describe("build params test", () => {
 
     it("should use the given `tagFormat` function", async () => {
         const config = {
-            packages: [{ name: "package-1", location: "", packageJSON: {} }],
+            packages: [{ name: "package-1", location: "", package: {} }],
             tagFormat
         };
 
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ describe("build params test", () => {
     });
 
     it("should convert a single package to an array of packages", async () => {
-        const pkg1 = { name: "package-1", location: "", packageJSON: {} };
+        const pkg1 = { name: "package-1", location: "", package: {} };
         const { params } = await buildParams({
             packages: pkg1,
             tagFormat
@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@ describe("build params test", () => {
 
     it("should throw error if an invalid package structure is found", async () => {
         const config1 = { packages: [{ name: "package-1" }], tagFormat };
-        const config2 = { packages: [{ packageJSON: "package-1" }], tagFormat };
+        const config2 = { packages: [{ package: "package-1" }], tagFormat };
         const config3 = { packages: [{ location: "package-1" }], tagFormat };
 
         return Promise.all([
diff --git a/tests/npmPublish.test.js b/tests/npmPublish.test.js
index daa2979..1279833 100644
--- a/tests/npmPublish.test.js
+++ b/tests/npmPublish.test.js
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ describe("npmPublish plugin test", function() {
         const pkg = {
             name: "package-1",
             location: dir,
-            packageJSON: {
+            package: {
                 name: "package-1",
                 version: "1.0.0"
             },
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ describe("npmPublish plugin test", function() {
             execa: {
                 shell: () => {
                     packageWritten = fileExists(dir + "/package.json");
-                    return { stdout: pkg.packageJSON.name + "@" + pkg.packageJSON.version };
+                    return { stdout: pkg.package.name + "@" + pkg.package.version };
                 }
             }
         });
@@ -68,8 +68,8 @@ describe("npmPublish plugin test", function() {
         await release(params);
 
         expect(packageWritten).to.be.true;
-        expect(pkg.npmPublish.stdout).to.contain(pkg.packageJSON.name);
-        expect(pkg.npmPublish.stdout).to.contain(pkg.packageJSON.version);
+        expect(pkg.npmPublish.stdout).to.contain(pkg.package.name);
+        expect(pkg.npmPublish.stdout).to.contain(pkg.package.version);
     });
 
     it("should continue publishing packages even if one of the packages fails", async () => {
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ describe("npmPublish plugin test", function() {
         const pkg1 = {
             name: "package-1",
             location: dir1,
-            packageJSON: {
+            package: {
                 name: "package-1",
                 version: "1.0.0"
             },
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ describe("npmPublish plugin test", function() {
         const pkg2 = {
             name: "package-2",
             location: dir2,
-            packageJSON: {
+            package: {
                 name: "package-2",
                 version: "1.2.0"
             },
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ describe("npmPublish plugin test", function() {
                     .onFirstCall()
                     .throws(() => new Error("Invalid package"))
                     .onSecondCall()
-                    .returns({ stdout: pkg2.packageJSON.name + "@" + pkg2.packageJSON.version })
+                    .returns({ stdout: pkg2.package.name + "@" + pkg2.package.version })
             }
         });
 
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ describe("npmPublish plugin test", function() {
         await release(params);
 
         expect(pkg1.npmPublish.error.message).to.equal("Invalid package");
-        expect(pkg2.npmPublish.stdout).to.contain(pkg2.packageJSON.version);
+        expect(pkg2.npmPublish.stdout).to.contain(pkg2.package.version);
     });
 
     it("should skip publishing if `nextRelease` is not set", async () => {
@@ -146,7 +146,7 @@ describe("npmPublish plugin test", function() {
         const pkg = {
             name: "package-1",
             location: "/dummy/location",
-            packageJSON: {
+            package: {
                 name: "package-1",
                 version: "1.0.0"
             },
diff --git a/tests/npmVerify.test.js b/tests/npmVerify.test.js
index 69f4efa..d726cd4 100644
--- a/tests/npmVerify.test.js
+++ b/tests/npmVerify.test.js
@@ -90,8 +90,10 @@ describe("npmVerify plugin test", function() {
         process.env["NPM_TOKEN"] = "invalid-npm-token";
 
         proxyquire(modulePath, {
-            execa: async () => {
-                throw new Error("Invalid token");
+            execa: {
+                shell: async () => {
+                    throw new Error("Invalid token");
+                }
             }
         });
 
diff --git a/tests/updatePackageJson.test.js b/tests/updatePackage.test.js
similarity index 87%
rename from tests/updatePackageJson.test.js
rename to tests/updatePackage.test.js
index d45778f..eef27b5 100644
--- a/tests/updatePackageJson.test.js
+++ b/tests/updatePackage.test.js
@@ -1,14 +1,14 @@
 import { expect } from "chai";
 import compose from "../src/utils/compose";
-import updatePackageJSONFactory from "../src/plugins/updatePackageJSON";
+import updatePackageFactory from "../src/plugins/updatePackage";
 
-describe("updatePackageJSON plugin test", function() {
+describe("updatePackage plugin test", function() {
     it("should update package version and versions of dependencies", async () => {
         const params = {
             packages: [
                 {
                     name: "package-1",
-                    packageJSON: {
+                    package: {
                         name: "package-1",
                         version: "0.0.0-semantically-released",
                         dependencies: {
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ describe("updatePackageJSON plugin test", function() {
                 },
                 {
                     name: "package-2",
-                    packageJSON: {
+                    package: {
                         name: "package-2",
                         version: "0.0.0-semantically-released"
                     },
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ describe("updatePackageJSON plugin test", function() {
                 },
                 {
                     name: "package-3",
-                    packageJSON: {
+                    package: {
                         name: "package-3",
                         version: "0.0.0-semantically-released",
                         dependencies: {
@@ -50,9 +50,9 @@ describe("updatePackageJSON plugin test", function() {
             ]
         };
 
-        await compose([updatePackageJSONFactory()])(params);
+        await compose([updatePackageFactory()])(params);
 
-        const [pkg1, pkg2, pkg3] = params.packages.map(p => p.packageJSON);
+        const [pkg1, pkg2, pkg3] = params.packages.map(p => p.package);
 
         expect(pkg1.version).to.equal("1.0.0");
         expect(pkg1.dependencies["package-2"]).to.equal("^1.6.0");
diff --git a/tests/utils/preset.js b/tests/utils/preset.js
index c4f57ef..e6b6513 100644
--- a/tests/utils/preset.js
+++ b/tests/utils/preset.js
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 export const packages = () => {
-    return [{ name: "preset-package", location: "", packageJSON: {} }];
+    return [{ name: "preset-package", location: "", package: {} }];
 };
diff --git a/types.js b/types.js
index 2d690fd..c74d45f 100644
--- a/types.js
+++ b/types.js
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 export type Package = {
     name: string,
     location: string,
-    packageJSON: Object
+    package: Object
 };
 
 export type Params = {