diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c1ef035
--- /dev/null
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -0,0 +1,112 @@
+# Contributing to readchar
+
+:+1::tada: First off, thanks for taking the time to contribute! :tada::+1:
+
+The following is a set of guidelines for contributing to this GitHub project. These are mostly guidelines, not rules. Use your best judgment, and feel
+free to propose changes to this document in a pull request.
+
+## Opening an issue
+
+If you want to open an issue about a problem or bug you encountered, simply go to the GitHub page and click _New issue_ in the _issues_ section. You
+will be presented with templates to use, choose a relevant one. (If no template fits, you can open a blank issue. But make sure you input all the
+appropriate information!)
+
+Fill out the template. You should at least provide the following information:
+
+- a short but exact description of your problem (screenshots often help)
+- steps on how to reproduce the problem
+- Information about your system:
+  - your OS
+  - your Python version and implementation
+  - the version of readchar you use
+
+## Opening a pull request
+
+Follow these steps if you want to contribute code to the project:
+
+1. Fork this Git repository and create your branch from `master`.
+
+2. Check out the code to your local machine by following the steps in [Getting the code](#getting-the-code) and make your changes.
+
+3. **Make sure the tests pass!!**
+
+4. If you added to the source code, add tests for your new code.
+
+5. Update the documentation, if necessary.
+
+6. Write a [good commit message](http://tbaggery.com/2008/04/19/a-note-about-git-commit-messages.html), if you have multiple changes, make sure your
+   commits are atomic (single irreducible change that makes sense on its own)
+
+7. Done, you can open a pull request.
+
+## Getting the code
+
+If you want to experiment with the code yourself, you can get started by following these steps.
+
+1. Clone the repository.
+
+    ```bash
+    git clone https://github.com/magmax/python-readchar.git
+    ```
+
+2. Create a virtual environment:
+
+    ```bash
+    python -m venv .venv
+    ```
+
+3. Enter the virtual environment
+
+    on Linux systems:
+
+    ```bash
+    source .venv/bin/activate
+    ```
+
+    or for Windows systems:
+
+    ```bash
+    .venv\Scripts\activate
+    ```
+
+4. Install dependencies
+
+    ```bash
+    pip install -r requirements.txt
+    ```
+
+5. Install the local version of readchar (in edit mode, so it automatically reflects changes)
+
+    ```bash
+    pip install -e .
+    ```
+
+### Run the tests!
+
+Always make sure all tests pass before suggesting any changes! This will avoid invalid PR's.
+
+The simplest way is to just run `make`. The provided makefile calls all tests for you.
+
+```bash
+make
+```
+
+If you don't have `make`, you could run all tests manually like this:
+
+- run `pytest` (source-code testing)
+
+    ```bash
+    pytest
+    ```
+
+- run `pre-commit` (linting and styling)
+
+    ```bash
+    pre-commit run -a
+    ```
+
+- run `setup.py` (to test build process)
+
+    ```bash
+    python setup.py sdist bdist_wheel
+    ```
diff --git a/README.rst b/README.rst
index 83ef061..80877a0 100644
--- a/README.rst
+++ b/README.rst
@@ -117,58 +117,10 @@ Thank you!
 How to contribute
 =================
 
-You can download the code, make some changes with their tests, and open a pull-request.
+You have an issue problem or found a bug? You have a great new idea or just want to fix a typo? Great :+1:. We are happy to accept your issue or pull
+request, but first, please read our `contribution guidelines <CONTRIBUTING_>`_. They will also tell you how to write code for this repo and
+how to properly prepare an issue or a pull request.
 
-In order to develop and run the tests, follow these steps:
-
-1.  Clone the repository.
-
-    .. code:: bash
-
-      git clone https://github.com/magmax/python-readchar.git
-
-2.  Create a virtual environment:
-
-    .. code:: bash
-
-      python -m venv .venv
-
-3.  Enter the virtual environment
-
-    on Linux systems:
-
-    .. code:: bash
-
-      source .venv/bin/activate
-
-    or for Windows systems:
-
-    .. code:: bash
-
-      .venv\Scripts\activate
-
-4.  Install dependencies
-
-    .. code:: bash
-
-      pip install -r requirements.txt
-
-5.  Install the local version of readchar (in edit mode, so it automatically reflects changes)
-
-    .. code:: bash
-
-      pip install -e .
-
-6.  Run tests
-
-    .. code:: bash
-
-      make
-
-    (or run the commands used inside the Makefile manually, if you don't have/know :code:`make`)
-
-
-Please, **Execute the tests before any pull-request**. This will avoid invalid builds.
 
 
 ------
@@ -201,4 +153,5 @@ Please, **Execute the tests before any pull-request**. This will avoid invalid b
 .. _GitHub: https://github.com/magmax/python-readchar
 .. _PyPi: https://pypi.python.org/pypi/readchar
 .. _LICENCE: LICENCE
+.. _CONTRIBUTING: https://github.com/magmax/python-readchar/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md
 .. _python-inquirer: https://github.com/magmax/python-inquirer