diff --git a/docs/process/release.md b/docs/process/release.md
index bad0b94a4b..5405ad039f 100644
--- a/docs/process/release.md
+++ b/docs/process/release.md
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ merge commits into LTS branches must open a pull request against the specific ba
 In general, cherry picks for LTS should only be done if it meets one of the criteria below:
 
 1. It addresses a critical security vulnerability.
-2. It fixes a breaking change in the external environment.  
+2. It fixes a breaking change in the external environment.
    For example, this could happen if one of the dependencies is deleted from NPM.
 3. It fixes a legitimate failure on CI for a particular LTS branch.
 
@@ -122,9 +122,20 @@ As commits are cherry-picked when PRs are merged, creating the release should be
 ```bash
 git commit -a -m 'release: vXX'
 git tag 'vXX'
+```
 
-# Make sure to run these commands together, as missing tags can cause CI
-# failures.
+The package versions we are about to publish are derived from the git tag that
+we just created. Double check that the versions are correct by running the
+following command.
+
+```bash
+yarn admin packages --version
+```
+
+Now push the commit and the tag to the upstream repository.
+**Make sure to run these commands together, as missing tags can cause CI failures.**
+
+```bash
 git push upstream && git push upstream --tags
 ```
 
@@ -151,7 +162,10 @@ After closing the tab, you have successfully logged in, it is time to publish.
 
 **It is a good idea to wait for CI to be green on the patch branch and tag before doing the release.**
 
-Check out the patch branch (e.g. `9.1.x`), then run:
+For the first release of a major version, follow the instructions in
+[Publishing a Major Version](#publishing-a-major-version) section.
+
+For non-major release, check out the patch branch (e.g. `9.1.x`), then run:
 ```bash
 yarn # Reload dependencies
 yarn admin publish
@@ -208,3 +222,23 @@ If you don't have the firebase CLI installed, you can install it using
 `npm install --global firebase-tools` (or use your package manager of choice).
 
 This is detailed in [`etc/cli.angular.io/README.md`](https://github.com/angular/angular-cli/blob/master/etc/cli.angular.io/README.md).
+
+## Publishing a Major Version
+
+For the first release of a major version, say `v10.0.0`, checkout the major branch
+(i.e. `10.0.x`), then run:
+
+```bash
+yarn # Reload dependencies
+yarn admin publish --tag next # a major release is always tagged as next initially
+```
+
+Confirm with downstream repositories (Components, etc) that everything is ok.
+Once the release is stable, wait for Framework to retag their packages, then
+retag the CLI packages as `latest`.
+The command below will automatically retag stable packages as well as experimental
+packages.
+
+```bash
+yarn admin dist-tag --version 10.0.0 --tag latest
+```
diff --git a/lib/packages.ts b/lib/packages.ts
index 09ab1e719d..c664dec76b 100644
--- a/lib/packages.ts
+++ b/lib/packages.ts
@@ -171,13 +171,21 @@ function _getVersionFromGit(experimental: boolean): string {
     stableVersion += stableVersion.includes('+') ? '.with-local-changes' : '+with-local-changes';
   }
 
-  experimentalVersion = `0.${stableVersion.replace(/^(\d+)\.(\d+)/, (_, major, minor) => {
-    return '' + (parseInt(major, 10) * 100 + parseInt(minor, 10));
-  })}`;
+  experimentalVersion = stableToExperimentalVersion(stableVersion);
 
   return experimental ? experimentalVersion : stableVersion;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Convert a stable version to its experimental equivalent. For example,
+ *   stable = 10.2.3, experimental = 0.1002.3
+ * @param stable Must begin with d+.d+ where d is a 0-9 digit.
+ */
+export function stableToExperimentalVersion(stable: string): string {
+  return `0.${stable.replace(/^(\d+)\.(\d+)/, (_, major, minor) => {
+    return '' + (parseInt(major, 10) * 100 + parseInt(minor, 10));
+  })}`;
+}
 
 // All the supported packages. Go through the packages directory and create a map of
 // name => PackageInfo. This map is partial as it lacks some information that requires the
diff --git a/scripts/dist-tag.ts b/scripts/dist-tag.ts
index 4b2a7c617f..667c265ac3 100644
--- a/scripts/dist-tag.ts
+++ b/scripts/dist-tag.ts
@@ -6,7 +6,8 @@
  * found in the LICENSE file at https://angular.io/license
  */
 
-// tslint:disable: no-implicit-dependencies
+// tslint:disable: no-implicit-dependencies we import @angular-devkit/core but
+// it is not in package.json, which is fine, this is just a script.
 
 import { logging } from '@angular-devkit/core';
 import { execSync } from 'child_process';
@@ -14,27 +15,47 @@ import { packages, stableToExperimentalVersion } from '../lib/packages';
 
 interface DistTagOptions {
   /**
-   * Version must be specified in format d+.d+.d+ where d is a 0-9 digit.
-   * This must be a stable version with major version > 0.
-   * The script will automatically convert stable version to experimental.
+   * The version of CLI packages published to NPM.
+   * Version must begin with d+.d+.d+ where d is a 0-9 digit.
+   * For example, `1.2.3`, `10.0.0-next.0`, or `10.0.0-rc.0`.
+   * Since we publish both stable and experimental packages to NPM, the version
+   * provided here must be a stable version with major version > 0.
+   * The script will automatically convert stable version to experimental for
+   * experimental packages.
    */
   version: string;
   /**
    * Tag is usually "latest" or "next", but could also be "v10-lts" for example.
    */
   tag: string;
+  /**
+   * If true, prints the help message.
+   */
+  help: boolean;
 }
 
 /**
  * This function adds a tag to all public packages in the CLI repo.
  */
 export default function(args: DistTagOptions, logger: logging.Logger) {
+  if (args.help) {
+    logger.info(`dist-tag adds a tag to all public packages in the CLI repo.
+
+If the packages already have a tag associated with them, then dist-tag will
+retag the packages.
+
+Usage:
+  --version  the version of CLI packages published to NPM.
+  --tag      the tag to add to CLI packages`);
+
+    return;
+  }
   const {version, tag} = args;
   if (!version || version.startsWith('v')) {
     throw new Error('Version must be specified in format d+.d+.d+');
   }
   if (version.startsWith('0')) {
-    throw new Error('Version must be "stable", with major version > 0');
+    throw new Error(`Major version must be > 0, did you mean ${stableToExperimentalVersion(version)}?`);
   }
   if (!tag) {
     throw new Error('Tag must be non-empty, for example: latest, next, v10-lts, etc');
@@ -43,7 +64,7 @@ export default function(args: DistTagOptions, logger: logging.Logger) {
   for (const {name, experimental} of publicPackages) {
     const actualVersion = experimental ? stableToExperimentalVersion(version) : version;
     // See https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/dist-tag for documentation
-    const cmd = `npm dist-tag add ${name}@${actualVersion} ${tag}`;
+    const cmd = `npm dist-tag add '${name}@${actualVersion}' '${tag}'`;
     logger.debug(cmd);  // print debug output by specifying --verbose
     const output = execSync(cmd, { encoding: 'utf8' });
     logger.info(output.trim());