Make Your Own Rules: Stories and Hard-Earned Advice from a Creator in the Digital Age

by Andrew Huang

YouTube sensation Andrew Huang offers practical tips and hard-won advice for creatives seeking financial stability while staying authentic.

How does a musician with acute hearing loss, a refusal to perform live, and no industry connections carve a path to millions of followers and lucrative royalty checks? In Make Your Own Rules , Andrew Huang shares stories from his two decades as a music industry misfit and offers advice on both the artistic and business sides of working as a creator in our digital era.

Beginning with auctioning his songwriting skills on eBay as a teenager, Andrew continuously found new ways to thrive in a music career over the last twenty-plus years. His storied career and hard-won wisdom can help aspiring digital creatives find success as well. Organized by sections on building your creative foundations, growing an audience in the digital age, making money, and staying true to yourself, Make Your Own Rules pairs personal anecdotes with concrete advice applicable to any freelance digital creator. You’ll learn how Andrew became an early adopter of sharing music online—for free!—and how he leveraged social media to grow an organic following and amass millions of song streams and video views. Additional chapters provide insight into his designing an online course and music production tools that have been used by tens of thousands of people, and how he created revenue streams for himself that didn’t exist previously.

With open-minded perseverance, Andrew made up his own rules for life. His unlikely journey will inspire creators to find opportunity, financial stability, and fun in their pursuits.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Self Help, Memoir, Audiobook, Business, Biography

320 pages, Hardcover

First published February 6, 2024

Reviews

[Bethany (Beautifully Bookish Bethany) · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's worth noting that this book heavily focuses on the music industry rather than general advice on being a digital creator. I didn't read the description closely and didn't quite realize going in, so heads up. I found parts of this to be interesting and helpful, but a lot of it is pretty specific to musicians, and it's also coming from someone who has been astoundingly successful. Partly due to work, partly just being in the right place at the right time. So some of his advice is pretty out of reach for the average creator. But at least he seems to recognize that to some extent.

I think my main takeaway is it makes sense why so many creators including myself end up experiencing burnout. There is constant change, nothing is ever enough or good enough and you're trying to balance authenticity to meeting the interests of shifting audiences. It's exhausting, and most of us aren't getting six-figure brand deals and thousands of dollars in ad revenue every month to kind of make up for it. He goes through the list of burnout symptoms and I thought...yeah I definitely have that. Unfortunately theres not a great solution without experiencing a financial impact, or finding another job and putting creative work on the back burner. If only applying for jobs wasn't equally an exhausting grind...but I'm still trying! It would be nice to have a consistent paycheck without having to worry about the whims of the algorithm or whether people who support me are losing jobs. I don't think a lot of people realize just how much time and work goes into creating content, and how little the majority of us get in return for what is easily more than a full-time job. I do appreciate that he gets into the strain of that, even for someone like him who can afford to hire assistants!

So...maybe read this if you're interested in the music industry or you're already a pretty successful creator making a livable income? The author reads the audiobook himself and does a pretty good job. I received an audio review copy via Libro.FM, all opinions are my own.

[Jillian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I gotta get my shit together

[Paddy Haesler · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have followed Andrew's music and career for about a decade. I have learned so much from their videos in that time. I think his music, process and sharing of both have shaped me as a composer, producer and musician more than anyone else. So, I was a little disappointed that this book wasn't really amazing for me.

Don't get me wrong - there's a lot I liked. Hearing detailed stories of Andrew's history, the personal life events occurring during periods of his career that I know deeply from the public-facing content and the insight into the processes, frameworks and mentalities that guide his art were all great.

I was let down by a lot of the advice in here - which loses much of its potency by trying to appeal broadly to art in general rather than by focussing on music specifically. Also, while I understand that it's kind of the point of a book like this, Andrew's musings on what it means to be an artist and how to be authentic felt trite and cliched. And despite the ethos of all artists regardless of size being equals - it felt kind of disconnected from early career life. It's weird to hear Andrew bragging about turning down 50k commissions to balance his personal life, and spending a day in deadmau5's mansion while giving advice that is intended to be taken as useful for anyone of any career stage. It feels very cynical to say it - but it feels like generic self-help stock. The ratio of stock to meat and veg was unfortunately disappointing. But maybe I'm too cynical for my own good.

There's a specific thing that happens all the way through that frustrated me. Often when Andrew would mention a colleague or their projects he would do so in vague terms. I wish he would have just said their names. Maybe the nondisclosure is for privacy, or because those people didn't want to have their information shared. Surely it wasn't gatekeeping - which would seem very out of character. A lot of the time I liked the sound of something Andrew described - but without a name I won't be able to find it.

I read this on audio, so I have some specific thoughts related to that. First, Andrew is sound artist. A true pioneer and experimenter. I appreciate that they read this themself, and added some music and sound effects. But they were disappointing. A couple of song segments (from recently released singles, or back catalog from periods of his career relevant to given chapters) mark new chapters, and some sound effects that grow stale with repetition mark asides, or signal the actionable advice sections of the book. But that's it. Andrew could very easily have scored this audiobook with music, could have added foley and sound effects to augment his story telling. I kind of expected this to be a true multi-media artwork. Unfortunately - just an audiobook.

Also, while I think publishing an audiobook is great for accessibility (and I wouldn't have read it otherwise) - it makes taking and applying the actionable advice harder. I can't just flip back to a page and re-read the suggestion to go and do it. I can't just look at a diagram - I have to go to the website and download it. Just a little bit of a barrier in this format. Obviously not Andrew's fault, but it means that for me - I won't be going back to action a lot of the advice. I'm ok with that.

At the end of the day - I still really liked Make Your Own Rules. Andrew is a hero of mine, and hearing his life story and gaining new perspectives on his life, and his artistic process was enjoyable. It often made me want to do better, to make more and be more creative. It also often made me feel self-conscious, disappointed and frustrated. It made my perception of myself as an artist stronger at times, but also fed self-doubt. I wish I could have loved this - and walked away more self assured. At the end I'm glad for the story and maybe some of the advice will affect me and my art. Probably some will. But really I'm just going to do my own thing. Maybe that was the point of this all along?

[Andrea Shipka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read in a rush for a book club and would like to read again !

[Jocelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you’re someone who’s interested in early YouTube and how many creators got their start on the platform, you’re going to enjoy this book. For me, that was the most interesting part and I loved hearing from a musician—as opposed to a lifestyle vlogger—about what the inception of the platform meant to him at the time.

read the full review: https://writethroughthenight.com/2024...

[Chris Nicholas · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you’re looking for a traditional “self help book,” this isn’t it. Andrew shares his journey from his youth to current age and all along the while giving advice as to how to thrive as a musician/content creator, whether through “mistakes” he’s made or decisions that skyrocketed his fan base. What I appreciate most of all is his awareness that what he has done will not work for everyone. But even if you don’t go on the same path as Andrew, creatives can certainly learn a thing or two just by keeping an open mind and learning new perspectives by what he, or some other people he met along the way, did. Andrew also shows the level of work he did to get to where he is at and how he had to adapt his workflow once he got to a certain threshold. Life will not be consistently satisfying and it will not be easy, but it is very much worth doing/living.

[Jérôme Jaglale · Rating 4 out of 5]

I discovered Andrew through his YouTube videos, and then in 2020 through his amazing online music production course. Because I knew quite a bit of his work, I thought I knew him well enough, but I was wrong. I'm glad he wrote this book to share about himself and his ideas. It's interesting, thought-provoking, and inspiring.

It's a fun and entertaining quick read (it took me only one week), not the standard self-help book.

I don't know how, or even if, it will impact my life in any way, but I enjoyed the extra bit of freedom of mind it gives us as a gift. Thank you Andrew!

[Elyssa K · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very encouraging read! I really appreciate the reflection prompts and visuals. Andrew nicely breaks down his insights and it’s clear he’s passionate about sharing. A very good pushback against my own perfectionistic tendencies as well.

[Kata Bitowt · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a great book. Met all my expectations, came to me at the right time, in between the jobs, figuring out what I want to do and how. Andrew is great. I've followed him on YouTube for years and I'm glad to get this autobiography + a book of useful tools in one package.
I've color-coded the book, as I'm definitely coming back to the self-reflection and other parts. Thank you!

[Jeff B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've watched a lot of Andrew Huang's YouTube videos. He an extremely talented and creative musical artist who makes YouTube videos as well as much more. This book made me realize how down to earth and how humble he seemed to be. I really enjoyed this compelling read. Here are a few random thoughts:

1. This book reminded me a bit of Rick Rubin's The Creative Act: A Way of Being. Kind of a guide for a young aspiring musician / social media influencer (which I am not). There was definitely some overlap, but this book was also a memoir with Huang sharing his personal story and giving insights into his life. He gets personal about his finances and his upbringing.

2. A lot of this book is about walking that line between being authentic and the importance of branding. Like many of us, Huang has a wide variety of musical tastes - probably more than most of us, actually. But people go to media with an expectation, and if people go to a channel expecting rap and get a country song instead, people will go somewhere else.

3. Another thing I found interesting was how Huang's upbringing affected him and his world view. He was the son of Asian immigrants and, as a result, was often an outsider. This gave him a healthy skepticism of the status quo which led him often down a different path than many of his contemporaries.

4. I also enjoyed his discussion on some of the trappings of fame. Some of his friends got big but had no idea about finances and were seemingly broke despite having some hits. Another of his friends (Deadmau5?) was quite successful but was so busy with the business and touring he never had time to enjoy his sonic riches.

I really liked this book, though I'm not sure how much you will enjoy if you're not familiar with the author's YouTube work. I think it would still be a worthy read, but who knows.

[Skiamakhos · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this because I've followed Andrew on YouTube for a few years & I love his style, how he'll make a song from found sounds, and I like how he brings other producers in for his 4 producers 1 sample videos, showing how different artists can make radically different music from the exact same sound.

Andrew's an interesting character, unconventional in all kinds of ways, and as an autistic person I dig that. I've always been seen as the eccentric in my peer group, and I must say my peer group were always the geeks & weirdos at school and afterward. I've been a goth since about '87ish.

In "Make Your Own Rules" Andrew tells the story of who he is & where he's coming from both literally and creatively & phiosophically. It's also the story of his career as a music producer and YouTube content creator, and it has periodic sidebars or chapter end sections with questions designed to provoke some introspection and thought from the reader. It's about how to become successful, but also how to arrive at a definition of successful that suits the reader, that aligns with their values and needs.

I'm not a musician in any real capacity - or I haven't been for ages, I once played tuba in the school windband, played bass guitar for a goth band, and I toy around with Ableton Live without much commitment. Mostly I'm a Java developer - but I think pretty much anyone can get *something* from this book, in terms of realising where they want their career to go. If you create anything, or you have any control over *what* you do professionally, this book will be of use.

I'm thinking, having read the book, with Ableton Live 12 coming out tomorrow, I'm going to make more of an effort this year & finish some actual tunes rather than just mess around making beats.

[ween_silyums · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to the audio book, which was read very well by the author. Andrew's voice and cadence is really nice and obviously the book felt more genuine and real being read by the author. I'm glad Andrew chose to read it himself instead of hiring someone else.

As for the book itself, this is mostly a memoir of Andrew's come up as a self made musician, though there is also a lot of thought provoking and inspirational thoughts on creativity and the music business. I was not expecting it to be so personal, so in many ways this book is for people who already know of Andrew through his music or YouTube channel.

I really appreciate Andrew's approach to music making. He seems very genuine and authentic, and in the book he talks about his process and decision making. How he learned to unlearn the rules society puts on us and why he made the decisions he made. I especially like his theme of a "band is a brand". As an artist myself, I found his stance on self-promotion very welcoming and inspirational. There were many good ideas I will continue to go back and meditate on.

Personally, I got a lot out of this book and really enjoyed listening to it. I gave it a 4 because I don't now if it's very accessible to everyone. A lot of the content really is about Andrew and his life, which is of course fine. However, I expected it to be more generally applicable to artists as a whole and the creative process. Either way, I took a lot of positive stuff from this book and am glad I listened to it.

[Chase Tremaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of YouTube's greatest treasures, Andrew Huang, wrote a wonderful book (far better than any rightminded person should ever expect from a "YouTuber") that marries the genres of memoir, self-help, business, and music reference. Make Your Own Rules encourages readers to do exactly as the title suggests, through Huang's well-written and sometimes shockingly poignant and vulnerable stories about his journey into his own niche of musical success -- with occasional detours into his experiences growing up as a racial minority, struggling to fit into the boxes presented to him in school, and learning to understand his own identity and passions.

On a more personal note, this book was particularly striking to me because of the amount of things I share in common with Huang. Most interestingly, I started a "business" in 2015 where I offered to write songs for people, in ANY style/genre that they chose, with lyrics on any topic they wanted. At the time, this seemed like a truly novel venture; I couldn't find anyone else online doing the same thing. According to this book, Huang beat me to this idea by about a decade. Other similarities over the course of the book continued to stun me, which made this book all the more affecting and its advice all the more enticing. His encouragements were bolstered by well-thought-out exercises for self-reflection. If I end up starting a YouTube channel in the next year or two, you can blame him!

[Mari Chong · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's okay, hence the three stars. This means it's definitely recommendable, but it isn't a life-changing read.

For someone who follows Andrew Huang or wants to build their own following online, it can be interesting.

Overall, I found the book too repetitive. It seemed like it could have benefited from a little more editing. Or rather a lottle.

Although the book presents itself as a treasure trove of advice for people building a career as self-employed internet personalities, it is more of an autobiography. The author tries to abstract from his experiences and provide actionable advice. However, he fails to recognize one of the key elements of his success: his ability to see the big picture and make mental connections that are not yet common knowledge. Can "seeing the big picture" even be taught? If so, he missed the opportunity to show the reader how.

For me, there were three great takeaways from this book: one from his mom, who reminded him that luck plays a huge role in whether you get recognition for your work or not; another that a YouTube channel with substance requires an incredible amount of work; and the third that opportunities can come surprisingly fast and in abundance.

[Carlos Torres · Rating 4 out of 5]

For me, the most interesting parts of this book are the autobiographical pieces. The author has a fascinating story of forging his own path to find a way to make a career as an artist through nontraditional pathways over a period of seismic industry changes. I particularly loved the themes of curiosity, open-mindedness, and self-confidence. The author does also acknowledge the role of luck in their success and avoids the tired trope of a successful artist telling people to just be true to themselves and everything else will fall into place.

The advice for aspiring creators was interesting and reminded me of a lot of things I've learned in business school and my career. I think this could be useful for someone trying to take this path seriously.

The musings on authenticity were interesting but probably the least cohesive part of the book for me. It felt a bit rambly and unorganized at times, but also hit on some very interesting points at others.

All said, I enjoyed it for the most part, would recommend it to someone aspiring to be successful in the online creative world or anyone interested in the autobiography piece.

[Angela Chang · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was fun to hear about Andrew Huang's journey. I had seen some of his videos on youtube and was curious to hear his story. This was an excellent book and I was riveted by the narrative. As someone who respects his musical explorations, I found it helpful to hear his critique of how music should be taught. The book was full of insights about trying everything you can to explore a topic and his storytelling style was personable and intimate-- I was surprised to hear about his battles with depression and burnout. He's such a happy-seeming guy in general. I'm glad he found ways to deal with these issues, and he shares practical tips for others. It was also fun to hear his thoughts on his own fame and social media, and also learning some practical methods to deal with continual stress of productivity. He also writes some clever tips on challenging oneself to be creative, so I found it helpful as a newbie musician myself. I would recommend this book for anyone who is interested in creativity and entrepreneurship.

[Alex L · Rating 3 out of 5]

man

this one took me forever to read for some reason. i love andrew huang, he changed my life as a kid and i have so much respect for everything he does and i was excited to read this

maybe i missed the marketing or something but i was surprised about how much of this was like an autobiography? i liked to learn about his life but i was expecting more advice based or tool type stuff than we got. and i know it wasn’t intentional but when you read a ton of pages about his life and then flip to a workshop question it feels like he’s quizzing you about what you just read about him 😭😭

a lot of the advice was just him posing tough questions to you. which is great and all but as someone who asks himself tough questions all the time this didn’t really give me the direction i was maybe hoping for? i know advice is really hard to give but to sell this book on advice and then not give TOO much was just like alr.

like i said i don’t want to be mean to him and i liked the book overall but i felt that it unfortunately fell flat from my expectations. love ya tho andrew 🫡🫡

[Jason Cady · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a memoir about the music business in the 21st century. I respected Huang's forthcoming honesty about many issues, but I also questioned whether he was really "making his own rules," or if he was following the tacit rules set by the economy and technology of our time. I think he is defensive about criticisms he may have faced about his integrity. While I partially agree that in the 90s too many people where too quick to point fingers at others for "selling out" (though I have deep respect for artists and bands like Fugazi who did not sell out), but ultimately it is important for artists to have integrity. Huang was at the right place at the right time, and it was certainly perceptive of him to realize that focusing on Youtube would pay off, yet it seems that the majority of his income comes from composing music for commercials. I'm not going to condemn someone for doing that, but also, it's not art. And art is important.

[Ken Chase · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not the target demographic for this book: I have little interest in building a personal brand and coudn't give a monkey's about social media clout. Follower counts and being a success comes up, uhm... countless times in this book.

I was hoping the book would provide some insight into how the author believes art can challenge the artist, as well as their audience. Why are artists important to society? Beyond achieving popularity and personal success, what's the greater good in play?

On the other hand, I do understand that becoming a social media influencer/star is a big deal to many people. If this is you, or if you're already a fan of Andrew's, maybe you'll get more out of the read than I did.

[Sherry · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a casual follower of his, I enjoyed learning about Andrew's experience coming up as a creator in the golden age of YouTube. The specific advice and self-reflection prompts were also helpful. A well-timed read as I consider my future goals and approach towards creating.

"Perfectionism might even be self-sabotage. If you call a piece done, then it's open to judgement. If it's never finished then it can never be released, and if it's never released then there's no chance for it to fail. But then, of course, there's no chance for it to succeed. There's far less room for you to grow."

"You create your brand with what you put out into the world, whether you're intentional about it or not. So you might as well be intentional about it."

[Austin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great great great book. To me it functioned as the practical sequel to Rick Rubin’s creative act. Where Rick perfectly encapsulated the emotional, spiritual, and magical parts of creating, Andrew brings it back down to earth with actual stories, examples and processes to actually go out and create. Two sides of the same coin.

Andrew’s writing is also fantastic, especially for a first time author. I really appreciated his honesty and nuance tackling subjects that most people would feel the need to pick a side on.

I highly recommend this to anyone that wants to create anything, or struggles with the repercussions of it.

[Matthew Agresti · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel inspired and motivated to pursue my dreams my own way

I loved the structure and style of writing in this book. It is not only easy to read, but it provides a great background and foundation in the beginning that allows you to understand Andrew’s perspective and guidance in a more complete way. There are many things about my dream of producing full time that have always felt at odds with the typical path and lifestyle, and this book has reassured and encouraged me to continue in my own direction. Thank you Andrew for having the courage and the willingness to create this and put it out there for us all to learn from!

[Mathias Pageau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspiring book with many great bits of knowledge like this one:

"I'm sure this isn't news to anyone with the slightest experience in business, but I know a lot of musicians who need to hear it. Through being prolific in my creation and my posting, I learned that action can be more important than planning.

Action is what gets results. Giving some thought to strategy and goals is also important, of course, but so much changes once you're actually in the game. You'll find answers you need by taking action, by making too many mistakes rather than too few decisions. As others have said, if you're not going forward, you're going backward." (Chapter 5)

PS- Could've done without the childhood memoir bits that slow down the beginning of the book. Maybe that's just me, though.

[Danny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somewhere between a memoir and motivational tract. Huang is a likeable and talented artist - always hungry to evolve. He writes well and has an interesting story - his experience with racism was really powerfully communicated. One of Huang’s best qualities is how he confronts adversity head on with a healthy dose of creativity. He occupies an interesting space in the YouTube/music production world. I find his short edu-tainment clips really engaging and fun.

[Ken · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve been a fan of Andrew for a while now, and I really enjoyed this book. His story was fascinating, and I think he lent amazing perspective on not only his creative process but his business dealings. I could have done without the end of chapter self help prompts, but I would recommend this to just about any digital creator.

[Petru Codreanu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super encouraging book to pursue your creative self in this day and age. It's far from an easy route, even for the author, Andrew, you can see that he had a hard upcoming and facing hearing issues for this profession you'd be given the ultimate reason to put this thing to the side. But he kept going and found different ways to keep exploring, creating and expressing himself.

[Spencer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I may have overhyped this book. It was one of my most anticipated reads of 2024. It ended up being more autobiographical than creativity inspiring, teaching me anything new, or reminding me of good values. Andrew certainly has had an interesting journey, so that was cool to read about.

[Dusty · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you like Andrew Huang already, you’ll enjoy hearing about his life and how he found success. But I found most of his advice too specific or too broad for other types of creatives. That said, I am inspired to create by the fervor he puts into his own creations.

[Adam Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a nice blend of memoir and then advice / self reflection prompts based on those lessons learned. It does get a little fluffy in spots, but still, Andrew does a great job. It’s time to make content.

[Luke Liscom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely an interesting read with a lot of perspective on what it means to have influence. Te make your own rules aspect is more of a retrospective that something to actively use to create new paths for yourself.