How to Monetize Your Magic: Turning Passion into a Paycheck Without Losing Your Mind or Message

By Queen Sheba — 2025 & 2024 Grammy-Nominated Spoken Word-Poet

“Passion is not a business plan”, says my current partner, who happens to be a multi-millionaire commercial real estate developer.

I blink at her with my lash extensions over my iced coffee barely awake at 8A and she’s one foot out the door, dressed to the nines — ready to ‘slay the day’ as she says.

“Welp,” I say, “It can be the launchpad.”

She knows I’m neurodivergent, as my students say. On the spectrum, as our generation says, or autistic, as Temple Grandin told about her daughter in the late 70s. Whichever. She knows, and we don’t use it as an excuse.

I operate on a whole different clock than she does.

If you’re reading this, chances are you’ve been sitting on a gift — or sprinting with it-wondering how to turn your thing into a living. And not just a living, but a sustainable, spiritually sound, and maybe even sexy life. One where your art doesn’t starve, your calendar isn’t chaos, and your message isn’t mangled into Instagram trends you hate.

Let me tell you what I know, from one tired-and-triumphant creative to another:
You can monetize your magic without selling your soul.
But you’ll need boundaries. Systems. A clear voice. And a little bit of audacity.

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1. Know What You’re Selling — It’s Not Just “Talent When people say, “I want to be paid for my art,” my first question is: Cool, but what exactly are they paying for?

Let me say this loud for the poets in the back: You’re not selling poems. You’re selling a feeling. A perspective. A transformation. A moment that only you can deliver. What makes your words worth money is not that they rhyme or flow — it’s that they resonate.

Package the impact, not just the output.

Whether it’s a workshop, a keynote, an album, a live show, or a digital download — ask yourself:

“What does this do for the person buying it?”
That answer is your marketing gold.

2. Separate the Art from the Admin

Wooooo. This was a hard one for me. I’m controlling.

If you try to be the artist, the admin, the accountant, the social media intern, the tour manager, and the therapist — all before 2 p.m. — you will burn out. Fast.

AI can be your assistant, but it cannot be you. Let me say that again … AI can be your assistant, but it cannot be you.

Your mind is a magic wand. Your inbox is not.

Set office hours. Use contracts. Get help where you can afford it. Barter if you have to (especially in the beginning), but do not carry the whole creative economy on your back. Get your genius out of the email chains and back into the work. That’s the part only you can do.

3. Create More Than You Consume

You don’t need 47 new apps, another business course, or someone else’s 90-day plan. You need to create. Relentlessly. Authentically. Consistently.

If your ratio is 90% scrolling, 10% producing — you’re feeding everyone else’s algorithm and starving your own. Stop being inspired and start being irreplacable.

Even if you only have one hour a day, build toward something:

This is how I started CODAW. I needed a writing day for myself. Then I invited others to join me. Strangers, yup — in my house — my living room. And here I am 7 years in and CODAW is now growing up to CODAW Cirlce and we can afford one of my fans who has grown up to be a marketing agency to help us thrive. And you will need help if you want to scale.

I even pretended to be my own manager after my first Grammy nomination -that didn’t last too long when people wanted to talk on the phone or a zoom — hahah.

Now, we have a group where everyone benefits from daily networking, writing prompts and we meet once or twice a month online for a scheduled class and in person, quarterly.

When we meet online, we set aside:
30 minutes to write
15 minutes to edit
15 minutes to post/publish/pitch
and give feedback how I learned in grad school at Queens University

Do that five days a week and see what happens in three months.

4. Decide Who You Are — Then Charge Accordingly

The world will pay you what you believe you’re worth. Not a penny more.

Let me say this again in a currency you’ll understand:
Your price is a mirror of your mindset.

If you’re shaky when you say your rate, people will feel that. If you lower your price every time someone says “I can’t afford it,” you will attract only broke energy — and never break even.

Don’t confuse accessibility with martyrdom.

You can have tiered pricing. You can offer discounts to communities you care about. But your base rate? That’s your energetic agreement with the universe. Make it solid.

5. Protect the Message

Not every opportunity is aligned.
Not every stage is your pulpit.
Not every check is clean.

When your name starts floating through rooms you haven’t entered yet — protect it. If a brand, client, or platform doesn’t align with your values, say no. Say it clearly. Say it before you need a crisis PR firm.

Because if your message gets lost chasing money, you’ll have neither in the end.

Stay rooted. Stay you. No matter what the budget says.

6. Use Tech Like a Tool, Not a God

Instagram is not your employer. Neither is TikTok, Threads, YouTube, Substack, or Spotify. These are distribution tools. Amplifiers. They should be bending to your mission — not the other way around.

Yes, use them to reach people. Build your audience. Sell your merch. Post your tour dates.
But own your list. Get emails. Build community off-platform.
If the algorithm changes tomorrow (and it will), your livelihood should not crash with it.

Your real power? It’s in your community. Your consistency. Your voice.

7. Define Success for You

Is it a full-time creative career?
An extra $2K/month in passive income?
A book deal? A Grammy? (Hi, I’ve been nominated twice and still pay my own rent, so chill.)
Is it freedom to work from Bali, or the ability to pay your mom’s bills?

Whatever it is — get specific. If you don’t define success, the industry will do it for you. And their definition might bury your joy under someone else’s dream.

8. Make Peace With the Plateaus

Not every month will be a 5-figure month. Not every launch will go viral. Sometimes you’ll be booked and busy. Sometimes you’ll be begging algorithms to show your reel to 20 more people.

Do not confuse a slow season with failure.

Make use of the quiet. Rest. Re-evaluate. Build the next thing.

That’s the magic. That’s the business of art.

9. Monetize Like You Mean It

Charge for that workshop.
Sell that e-book.
Launch the merch.
Drop the pre-sale.
License your poem.
Negotiate your rate.
Apply for that grant.
Set up your digital tip jar.
Put your CashApp in your linktree.
Send the invoice — before the gig, not after.

And if they say, “Why should I pay you for that?”
Say: “Because I paid for it first — with my time, my tears, my talent, and my testimony.” Period.

Tell them the Picasso in a cafe story.

10. Don’t Lose Your Mind — or the Message

This is sacred work; even if it’s funny. Even if it’s messy. Even if it’s digital.

Do what you have to do to stay sane:
Therapy.
Prayer.
Movement. — I run almost every day and cycle on the road once or twice a week. My 3-Year-Old German Shepherd “Charlie I’m a Girl” requires me to walk her a least a mile twice a day with a gentle reminder boop with her nose to my face.

Boundaries.
Good people.
Better sleep. — This doesn’t mean more. It means better. I had to learn this.

Saying no without apology.

You cannot pour from an empty pen. And you cannot be replaced when you’re being fully you.

Final Word:

I’m 24 years into this Spoken Word career. I’ve cried in the car after gigs that paid me in vibes. I’ve flown across the world for $1,000 and given away more than I made — on purpose. I’ve also sold out shows, packed theaters, cashed 5-figure weekends, won awards, lost friends, lost my mind, healed it, and kept going.

If I’ve learned anything, it’s this:
The magic is real.
And yes — you can get paid for it.

Just make sure you remember yourself in the process.
That’s where the real value lives.

💸 Like what you read? Send a love offering:
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Zelle: poetryvshiphop@gmail.com

Book me for your next event: bookingqueensheba@gmail.com

Want more resources on monetizing your creativity, getting grants, building your brand, or just surviving capitalism with your soul intact?
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Want to listen to my:
2025 Grammy Nominated Spoken Word-Poetry Album: Civil Writes

2024 Grammy Nominated Spoken Word-Poetry Album:
A-You’re Not Wrong, B-They’re Not Either