PyScaffold
Python project template generator with batteries included
... yet, also have a look at these reasons to use PyScaffold. After cd-ing into your new project and creating (or activating) an isolated development environment (with virtualenv, conda or your preferred tool), you can do the usual editable install. All configuration can be done in setup.cfg like changing the description, URL, classifiers, installation requirements and so on as defined by setuptools. That means in most cases it is not necessary to tamper with setup.py.