diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index e7e827b50..fe7647ed5 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -8,6 +8,9 @@ Changes between 7.1.9 and 8.0.0
 Highlights
 ----------
 
+Detailed coverage of the major changes can be found in the dedicated
+[Sopel 8 upgrade guide][sopel-8-migration].
+
 **For users:**
 
 * Python 3.8+ is now required
@@ -328,7 +331,7 @@ Housekeeping changes
   [#2178][], [#2182][], [#2226][], [#2238][], [#2239][], [#2257][], [#2275][],
   [#2276][], [#2323][], [#2379][], [#2386][], [#2409][], [#2424][], [#2426][],
   [#2442][], [#2489][], [#2494][], [#2495][], [#2496][], [#2533][], [#2539][],
-  [#2543][], [#2550][], [#2558][], [#2574][], [#2600][]]
+  [#2543][], [#2550][], [#2558][], [#2574][], [#2600][], [#2606][]]
 * Switched from Travis CI to GitHub Actions and incrementally improved tests
   [[#2075][], [#2078][], [#2123][], [#2188][], [#2262][], [#2335][], [#2342][],
   [#2381][], [#2452][], [#2453][], [#2458][], [#2505][], [#2519][], [#2543][]]
@@ -357,6 +360,7 @@ Housekeeping changes
 [pronoun-base]: https://github.com/lucasew/svelte-pronounisland
 [pronoun-ours]: https://github.com/sopel-irc/pronoun-service
 [rate-decorator]: https://sopel.chat/docs/plugin/decorators#sopel.plugin.rate
+[sopel-8-migration]: https://sopel.chat/usage/installing/upgrading-to-sopel-8/
 [sopel-bugzilla]: https://pypi.org/project/sopel-bugzilla/
 [sopel-help]: https://pypi.org/project/sopel-help/
 [sopel-iplookup]: https://pypi.org/project/sopel-iplookup/
@@ -617,6 +621,7 @@ Housekeeping changes
 [#2584]: https://github.com/sopel-irc/sopel/pull/2584
 [#2600]: https://github.com/sopel-irc/sopel/pull/2600
 [#2601]: https://github.com/sopel-irc/sopel/pull/2601
+[#2606]: https://github.com/sopel-irc/sopel/pull/2606
 
 
 Changes between 7.1.8 and 7.1.9
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 5746b069a..bc7dc8e49 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -11,15 +11,15 @@ namespaces = false
 
 [project]
 name = "sopel"
-version = "8.0.0.dev0"
+version = "8.0.0"
 description = "Simple and extensible IRC bot"
 maintainers = [
-  { name="dgw", email="dgw@technobabbl.es" },
-  { name="Florian Strzelecki", email="florian.strzelecki@gmail.com" },
+  { name="dgw" },
+  { name="Florian Strzelecki" },
 ]
 authors = [
-  { name="dgw", email="dgw@technobabbl.es" },
-  { name="Florian Strzelecki", email="florian.strzelecki@gmail.com" },
+  { name="dgw" },
+  { name="Florian Strzelecki" },
   { name="Sean B. Palmer" },
   { name="Else Powell" },
   { name="Elad Alfassa" },