diff --git a/.gitmodules b/.gitmodules
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b06688b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitmodules
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+[submodule "releaseops"]
+	path = releaseops
+	url = git@github.com:slyphon/releaseops.git
diff --git a/Rakefile b/Rakefile
index f57ae68..b43067b 100644
--- a/Rakefile
+++ b/Rakefile
@@ -1,2 +1,68 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env rake
-require "bundler/gem_tasks"
+release_ops_path = File.expand_path('../releaseops/lib', __FILE__)
+
+# if the special submodule is availabe, use it
+# we use a submodule because it doesn't depend on anything else (*cough* bundler)
+# and can be shared across projects
+#
+if File.exists?(release_ops_path)
+  require File.join(release_ops_path, 'releaseops')
+
+  # sets up the multi-ruby zk:test_all rake tasks
+  ReleaseOps::TestTasks.define_for(*%w[1.8.7 1.9.2 jruby ree 1.9.3])
+
+  # sets up the task :default => 'spec:run' and defines a simple
+  # "run the specs with the current rvm profile" task
+  ReleaseOps::TestTasks.define_simple_default_for_travis
+
+  # Define a task to run code coverage tests
+  ReleaseOps::TestTasks.define_simplecov_tasks
+
+  # set up yard:server, yard:gems, and yard:clean tasks 
+  # for doing documentation stuff
+  ReleaseOps::YardTasks.define
+
+  namespace :zk do
+    namespace :gems do
+      task :build do
+        require 'tmpdir'
+
+        raise "You must specify a TAG" unless ENV['TAG']
+
+        ReleaseOps.with_tmpdir(:prefix => 'zk') do |tmpdir|
+          tag = ENV['TAG']
+
+          sh "git clone . #{tmpdir}"
+
+          orig_dir = Dir.getwd
+
+          cd tmpdir do
+            sh "git co #{tag} && git reset --hard && git clean -fdx"
+
+            sh "rvm 1.8.7 do gem build zk.gemspec"
+
+            mv FileList['*.gem'], orig_dir
+          end
+        end
+      end
+
+      task :push do
+        gems = FileList['*.gem']
+        raise "No gemfiles to push!" if gems.empty?
+
+        gems.each do |gem|
+          sh "gem push #{gem}"
+        end
+      end
+
+      task :clean do
+        rm_rf FileList['*.gem']
+      end
+
+      task :all => [:build, :push, :clean]
+    end
+  end
+
+
+  task :clean => 'yard:clean'
+end
+
diff --git a/releaseops b/releaseops
new file mode 160000
index 0000000..0d1bcf4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releaseops
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Subproject commit 0d1bcf4048336e9c54b469b5e4716a990b27978a