1. Develop setup.py and other distribution-related files
2. Test distribution; should pass all distribution tests
3. Register project with the Python Package Index (PyPI)
4. Upload distribution(s) to PyPI

• python setup.py sdist does not raise an exception
• all expected files are included in the distribution tarball
• python setup.py test works in install environment
• acceptance tests pass in install environment
• python setup.py install produces expected footprint in site-packages
• easy_install works
• pip install python-pptx works

• manual
• easy_install
• pip

• setup.py
• MANIFEST.in
• setup.cfg

... some notions about who uses these and for what ...

• naive end-user

In order to enable a new capability in my computing environment
As a naive end-user
I would like installation to "just work" and not scare me with error
messages that don't indicate a real problem.

In order to verify a new installation
As a python developer
I want to be able to easily run the test suite without having to invest in
any additional discovery or configuration.

• The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Packaging
• Writing a Package in Python by Tarek Ziadé is an extract from his PACKT book Expert Python Programming and while being somewhat dated, contains some useful tidbits.
• Ian Bicking's blog post Python's Makefile discusses how to write extensions to setup.py, for perhaps a command like coverage that would automatically run nosetests --with-coverage.
• tox documentation
• virtualenv documentation
• How To Package Your Python Code
• Python Packaging: Hate, hate, hate everywhere
• Building and Distributing Packages with setuptools
• A guide to Python packaging
• Python Packaging by Tarek Ziade