diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 67c997fe..df8731a9 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,6 +1,17 @@
 # Changelog
 
-## Unreleased
+## Version 1.30.0-RC (2025-01-27)
+
+**NOTICE**: This is a release candidate (RC), preceding the first stable release of `io.opentelemetry.semconv:opentelemetry-semconv`.
+
+* **BREAKING**: Prepare for stable release. Remove deprecated `ResourceAttributes`, `SemanticAttributes`.
+  ([#130](https://github.com/open-telemetry/semantic-conventions-java/pull/130))
+* Exclude `exception.escaped` from (to-be-stable) artifact
+  ([#133](https://github.com/open-telemetry/semantic-conventions-java/pull/133))
+* Remove schema urls for `1.22.0`, `1.23.1`. 
+  ([#134](https://github.com/open-telemetry/semantic-conventions-java/pull/134))
+* Bump to semantic-conventions v1.30.0
+  ([#141](https://github.com/open-telemetry/semantic-conventions-java/pull/141))
 
 ## Version 1.29.0 (2024-12-19)
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 9c3003ae..b97d4476 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -62,6 +62,14 @@ is the need to set the Gradle property `android.useFullClasspathForDexingTransfo
 builds. Please see [this](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-android/pull/309) 
 pull request on the OpenTelemetry Android Extension for details.
 
+## Compatibility
+
+Artifacts from this repository follow semantic versioning, mirroring the versions of the upstream [semantic-conventions](https://github.com/open-telemetry/semantic-conventions) repository. If a patch release is needed for logic in this repository, a release will be published with a fourth version component (i.e. `1.30.0.1` to patch an issue with `1.30.0`).  
+
+Stable artifacts (i.e. artifacts without -alpha version suffix) come with strong backwards compatibility guarantees for public APIs.
+
+Compatibility guarantees are inherited from [opentelemetry-java](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-java/blob/main/VERSIONING.md).
+
 ## Generating semantic conventions
 
 Requires docker.
diff --git a/RELEASING.md b/RELEASING.md
index d3e6026c..b178a934 100644
--- a/RELEASING.md
+++ b/RELEASING.md
@@ -34,6 +34,37 @@ the `semantic-convention` release version, e.g. `v1.21.0.1`
   * This workflow will publish artifacts to maven central and will publish a GitHub release with
     release notes based on the change log.
 
+## Making release candidate locally
+
+* Follow steps to [prepare a new release](#preparing-a-new-release), but DO NOT [make the release](#making-the-release)
+* Check out release branch locally
+* Set required environment variables
+  * `export CI=true` - trick tooling to thinking this is the official release process, and sign artifacts
+  * `export GPG_PRIVATE_KEY=<private_key>`
+  * `export GPG_PASSWORD=<password>`
+  * `export SONATYPE_USER=<user>`
+  * `export SONATYPE_KEY=<key>`
+* Adjust version tag to include `-rc.<num>` suffix (i.e. `-rc.1` for the first release candidate) in [build.gradle.kts](./build.gradle.kts):
+
+  ```
+  var ver = semanticConventionsVersion
+  ver += "-rc.1" // <-- ADD THIS LINE
+  val release = findProperty("otel.release")
+  if (release != null) {
+    ver += "-" + release
+  }
+  if (snapshot) {
+    ver += "-SNAPSHOT"
+  }
+  version = ver
+  ```
+
+* Build and publish artifacts to staging repository
+  * Run `./gradlew assemble publishToSonatype closeSonatypeStagingRepository` 
+  * Notably, this stages the artifacts in sonatype and gives a chance for manual verification before publishing
+  * Publishing via the sonatype UI
+* After publishing, manually create Github release using the contents from the [CHANGELOG.md](./CHANGELOG.md)
+
 ## Credentials
 
 See [opentelemetry-java credentials](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-java/blob/main/RELEASING.md#credentials).