Added more pre-release documentation and email template to RELEASING.md

RELEASING.md

@@ -35,7 +35,8 @@ $EDITOR changelog.rst
 - Push the release branch; `git push -u origin release-$SDK_VERSION`
 
 - Open a PR for review;
-    `gh pr create --base main --title "Release v$SDK_VERSION"`
+    `gh pr create --base main --title "Release v$SDK_VERSION" --label "no-news-is-good-news"`
+    _The `no-news-is-good-news` label is required for release PRs._
 
 - After any changes and approval, merge the PR, checkout `main`, and pull;
     `git checkout main; git pull`
@@ -60,6 +61,7 @@ or create the release via the GitHub CLI
   changes and a link to the GitHub release page.
   (If the Globus CLI is releasing within a short interval,
   combine both announcements into a single email notice.)
+  See [Appendix A](#appendix-a-email-template) for an optional email template.
 
 - Ensure the 4.x-dev branch is updated with the latest changes from main
   by creating a PR:
@@ -77,8 +79,81 @@ or create the release via the GitHub CLI
 
 ## Publish Pre-release 4.x packages to PyPi
 
-The steps above for deploying a package to PyPI can be used to push pre-release packages by:
+Pre-release packages for the 4.x branch follow a similar process to main releases with some key differences:
 
-* Using the 4.x-dev branch instead of the main branch
-* Creating and pushing a tag on the 4.x-dev branch
-* Publishing the release through GitHub using the 4.x-dev branch
+### Prerequisites
+
+- Make sure you have a gpg key setup for use with git.
+- Ensure the 4.x-dev branch is up to date with latest changes from main (see merge process above)
+
+### Pre-release Procedure
+
+- Make sure your repo is on `4.x-dev` and up to date;
+    `git checkout 4.x-dev; git pull`
+
+- Check the current version in `pyproject.toml` and decide on the next pre-release version
+  (e.g., if current is `4.0.0a2`, next would be `4.0.0a3`)
+
+- (optional) Set the version in the `SDK_VERSION` env var, for use in the
+  following steps. `SDK_VERSION=4.0.0a3`
+
+- Create a release branch;
+   `git checkout -b release-$SDK_VERSION`
+
+- Update the version in `pyproject.toml`
+
+- Update metadata and changelog, then verify changes in `changelog.rst`
+
+```
+make prepare-release
+$EDITOR changelog.rst
+```
+
+- Add changed files;
+    `git add changelog.d/ changelog.rst pyproject.toml`
+
+- Commit; `git commit -m 'Bump version and changelog for release'`
+
+- Push the release branch; `git push -u origin release-$SDK_VERSION`
+
+- Open a PR for review against the `4.x-dev` branch;
+    `gh pr create --base 4.x-dev --title "Release v$SDK_VERSION" --label "no-news-is-good-news"`
+    _The `no-news-is-good-news` label is required for release PRs._
+
+- After any changes and approval, merge the PR, checkout `4.x-dev`, and pull;
+    `git checkout 4.x-dev; git pull`
+
+- Tag the release; `make tag-release`
+    _This will run a workflow to publish to test-pypi._
+
+- Create a GitHub release with a copy of the changelog.
+    _This will run a workflow to publish to pypi._
+
+  **Important:** For pre-releases, ensure you check the "Set as a pre-release" checkbox in
+  the GitHub UI, or use the `--prerelease` flag with the CLI:
+
+```
+./scripts/changelog2md.py | \
+  gh release create $SDK_VERSION --title "v$SDK_VERSION" --notes-file - --prerelease
+```
+
+## Appendix A: Email Template
+
+When announcing a release on the Globus Discuss list (discuss@globus.org), use the following template:
+
+**Subject:** Globus Python SDK v[VERSION]
+
+**Body:**
+```
+I'm pleased to announce the release of a new version of the Globus Python SDK!
+
+v[VERSION] Release Notes
+
+[Insert output from ./scripts/changelog2md.py here]
+
+GitHub Release: https://github.com/globus/globus-sdk-python/releases/tag/[VERSION]
+PyPI: https://pypi.org/project/globus-sdk/[VERSION]
+Documentation: https://globus-sdk-python.readthedocs.io
+```
+
+**Note:** The release notes content can be generated by running `./scripts/changelog2md.py`.