diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/publish.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/publish.ts
index 4215b3d..0cda8e3 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/commands/publish.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/publish.ts
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ export const publishCommand = command({
 
     // Scan for posts
     consola.start("Scanning for posts...");
-    const posts = await scanContentDirectory(contentDir, config.frontmatter);
+    const posts = await scanContentDirectory(contentDir, config.frontmatter, config.ignore);
     consola.info(`Found ${posts.length} posts`);
 
     // Determine which posts need publishing
@@ -213,7 +213,8 @@ export const publishCommand = command({
           lastPublished: new Date().toISOString(),
         };
       } catch (error) {
-        consola.error(`  Error: ${error}`);
+        const errorMessage = error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error);
+        consola.error(`  Error publishing "${path.basename(post.filePath)}": ${errorMessage}`);
         errorCount++;
       }
     }
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/lib/config.ts b/packages/cli/src/lib/config.ts
index 13481c7..c515d4e 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/lib/config.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/lib/config.ts
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ export function generateConfigTemplate(options: {
 	publicationUri: string;
 	pdsUrl?: string;
 	frontmatter?: FrontmatterMapping;
+	ignore?: string[];
 }): string {
 	const config: Record<string, unknown> = {
 		siteUrl: options.siteUrl,
@@ -99,6 +100,10 @@ export function generateConfigTemplate(options: {
 		config.frontmatter = options.frontmatter;
 	}
 
+	if (options.ignore && options.ignore.length > 0) {
+		config.ignore = options.ignore;
+	}
+
 	return JSON.stringify(config, null, 2);
 }
 
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/lib/markdown.ts b/packages/cli/src/lib/markdown.ts
index 99de982..8acf4f4 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/lib/markdown.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/lib/markdown.ts
@@ -118,9 +118,20 @@ export async function getContentHash(content: string): Promise<string> {
   return hashArray.map((b) => b.toString(16).padStart(2, "0")).join("");
 }
 
+function shouldIgnore(relativePath: string, ignorePatterns: string[]): boolean {
+  for (const pattern of ignorePatterns) {
+    const glob = new Glob(pattern);
+    if (glob.match(relativePath)) {
+      return true;
+    }
+  }
+  return false;
+}
+
 export async function scanContentDirectory(
   contentDir: string,
-  frontmatterMapping?: FrontmatterMapping
+  frontmatterMapping?: FrontmatterMapping,
+  ignorePatterns: string[] = []
 ): Promise<BlogPost[]> {
   const patterns = ["**/*.md", "**/*.mdx"];
   const posts: BlogPost[] = [];
@@ -132,6 +143,10 @@ export async function scanContentDirectory(
       cwd: contentDir,
       absolute: false,
     })) {
+      // Skip files matching ignore patterns
+      if (shouldIgnore(relativePath, ignorePatterns)) {
+        continue;
+      }
 
       const filePath = path.join(contentDir, relativePath);
       const file = Bun.file(filePath);
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/lib/types.ts b/packages/cli/src/lib/types.ts
index d3e6dd7..a8d055c 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/lib/types.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/lib/types.ts
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ export interface PublisherConfig {
 	pdsUrl?: string;
 	identity?: string; // Which stored identity to use (matches identifier)
 	frontmatter?: FrontmatterMapping; // Custom frontmatter field mappings
+	ignore?: string[]; // Glob patterns for files to ignore (e.g., ["_index.md", "**/drafts/**"])
 }
 
 export interface Credentials {