diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 4a52153868..f706241741 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -1,3 +1,11 @@
+Changes between 5.4.1 and 5.5.0
+===============================
+This release starts preparations for Willie 6. See http://sopel.chat/willie_6.html
+API changes (for developers):
+* The ability to import from the sopel package, rather than willie, is added to enable forward compatibility with the rename in 6.0.
+* A version_info tuple, simmilar to Python's own sys.version_info, is added
+* An error when setting a validated config attribute to None is fixed
+
 Changes between 5.4.0 and 5.4.1
 ===============================
 This release starts preparations for Willie 6. See http://willie.dftba.net/willie_6.html
diff --git a/willie/__init__.py b/willie/__init__.py
index 65473029da..c159e03140 100644
--- a/willie/__init__.py
+++ b/willie/__init__.py
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
 import traceback
 import signal
 
-__version__ = '5.4.1'
+__version__ = '5.5.0'
 
 
 def _version_info():