diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c76abee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+# generated by autotools
+tools/
+aclocal.m4
+autom4te.cache
+configure
+Makefile.in
+
+# generated by configure
+config.*
+Makefile
diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8efcf15
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+## liza Makefile.am for automake
+#
+#  Copyright (C) 2014 LoVullo Associates, Inc.
+#
+#  This file is part of liza.
+#
+#  This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+#  it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+#  the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+#  (at your option) any later version.
+#
+#  This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+#  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+#  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+#  GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+#  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+#  along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+##
+
+# placeholder
+all:
+	@echo "You are too early! Liza is not ready; check back later."
+	@exit 1
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8266cfe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+## For use my automake and autoconf
+#
+#  Copyright (C) 2014 LoVullo Associates, Inc.
+#
+#  This file is part of liza.
+#
+#  This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+#  it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+#  the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+#  (at your option) any later version.
+#
+#  This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+#  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+#  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+#  GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+#  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+#  along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+##
+
+AC_INIT([liza], [0.0.1-dev], [dev@lovullo.com])
+AC_CONFIG_AUX_DIR([tools])
+AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE([foreign])
+
+# generate files from their *.in counterparts
+AC_CONFIG_FILES([Makefile])
+AC_OUTPUT