diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 6bb8f7f4..671a8abb 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -9,6 +9,10 @@ vendor
 # npm
 node_modules
 
+# created by release.sh
+releases
+tmp
+
 config.local.php
 
 # all custom templates
diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..16d5c109
--- /dev/null
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+0.9.0-dev
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/release.sh b/release.sh
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6bf99385
--- /dev/null
+++ b/release.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+#
+# myaac release script
+#
+# places compressed archives into releases/ directory
+#
+
+if [ $# -eq 0 ]; then
+	echo "No arguments supplied"
+	echo "Usage: release.sh prepare/pack"
+	exit 1
+fi
+
+if [ $1 = "prepare" ]; then
+	# define release version
+	version=`cat VERSION`
+
+	echo "Preparing to release version $version of the MyAAC Project!"
+
+	# make required directories
+	mkdir -p releases
+	mkdir -p tmp
+
+	# get myaac from git archive
+	git archive --format zip --output tmp/myaac.zip master
+
+	cd tmp/
+
+	dir="myaac-$version"
+	if [ -d "$dir" ] ; then
+		echo "Fatal error: Version $version already exists!!"
+		exit
+	fi
+
+	unzip -q myaac.zip -d $dir
+	rm myaac.zip
+
+	echo "Now you can make changes to $dir. When you are ready, type 'release.sh pack'"
+	exit
+fi
+
+if [ $1 = "pack" ]; then
+	# define release version
+	version=`cat VERSION`
+
+	cd tmp
+
+	# tar.gz
+	echo "Creating .tar.gz package.."
+	file="myaac-$version.tar.gz"
+	tar -czf $file *
+	mv $file ../releases/
+
+	# zip
+	echo "Creating .zip package.."
+	file="myaac-$version.zip"
+	zip -rq $file *
+	mv $file ../releases/
+
+	cd ..
+	rm -R tmp
+	echo "Done. Released files can be found in 'releases' directory."
+
+	exit
+fi
\ No newline at end of file