diff --git a/IPython/nbconvert/nbconvertapp.py b/IPython/nbconvert/nbconvertapp.py
index 99f1427..d625371 100755
--- a/IPython/nbconvert/nbconvertapp.py
+++ b/IPython/nbconvert/nbconvertapp.py
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ from IPython.utils.importstring import import_item
 from .exporters.export import export_by_name, get_export_names, ExporterNameError
 from IPython.nbconvert import exporters, transformers, writers
 from .utils.base import NbConvertBase
+from .utils.exceptions import ConversionException
 
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 #Classes and functions
@@ -203,12 +204,20 @@ class NbConvertApp(BaseIPythonApplication):
                                               resources=resources,
                                               config=self.config)
             except ExporterNameError as e:
-                print("Error: '%s' exporter not found." % self.export_format,
+                print("Error while converting '%s': '%s' exporter not found."
+                      %(notebook_filename, self.export_format),
                       file=sys.stderr)
                 print("Known exporters are:",
                       "\n\t" + "\n\t".join(get_export_names()),
                       file=sys.stderr)
                 sys.exit(-1)
+            except ConversionException as e:
+                print("Error while converting '%s': %s" %(notebook_filename, e),
+                      file=sys.stderr)
+                sys.exit(-1)
+            # except Exception as e:
+                # print("Error: could not export '%s'" % notebook_filename, file=sys.stderr)
+                # print(e, file=sys.stderr)
             else:
                 self.writer.write(output, resources, notebook_name=notebook_name)
                 conversion_success += 1
diff --git a/IPython/nbconvert/utils/exceptions.py b/IPython/nbconvert/utils/exceptions.py
index 6a4e0e6..58fff26 100644
--- a/IPython/nbconvert/utils/exceptions.py
+++ b/IPython/nbconvert/utils/exceptions.py
@@ -14,4 +14,4 @@
 class ConversionException(Exception):
     """An exception raised by the conversion process."""
 
-    pass
\ No newline at end of file
+    pass
diff --git a/IPython/nbconvert/utils/pandoc.py b/IPython/nbconvert/utils/pandoc.py
index c853d3c..4be14bb 100644
--- a/IPython/nbconvert/utils/pandoc.py
+++ b/IPython/nbconvert/utils/pandoc.py
@@ -19,16 +19,14 @@ import subprocess
 # IPython imports
 from IPython.utils.py3compat import cast_bytes
 
+from .exceptions import ConversionException
+
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Classes and functions
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-class PandocMissing(SystemExit):
-    """Exception raised when Pandoc is missing.
-
-    A subclass of SystemExit so it will cause an exit if not caught, but
-    explicitly named so that it's possible to catch.
-    """
+class PandocMissing(ConversionException):
+    """Exception raised when Pandoc is missing. """
     pass
 
 
@@ -61,7 +59,7 @@ def pandoc(source, fmt, to, extra_args=None, encoding='utf-8'):
         )
     except OSError as e:
         raise PandocMissing(
-            "Error trying to run '%s': %s.\n" %(" ".join(command), e) +
+            "The command '%s' returned an error: %s.\n" %(" ".join(command), e) +
             "Please check that pandoc is installed:\n" +
             "http://johnmacfarlane.net/pandoc/installing.html"
         )