Today's very special edition of Being A Woman On The Internet: 
I'm gonna turn this into a teaching moment, and take this opportunity to outline a few basic client negotiation strategies for students & other early career artists who might be interested. These can be employed in any negotiation, not just transactions related to jars of spit.
First, because I'm not well informed on industry standard prices for this...uh, item...I want the client to set the anchor price (the initial price offer). I don't want to run the risk of naming a price that's too low and getting underpaid.
The downside of letting the client anchor is that this number sets the stage for all other price offers in the negotiation. Not great when a client makes a lowball offer. In this case, I feel like $60 for a jar of spit doesn't seem like a very fair price (but what do I know???).
Break down your prices so the client knows exactly what they're paying for, and doesn't feel like you're just setting the price at some arbitrary number. Make sure they understand the amount of work they're asking you to do and how much that costs. Transparency is key.
Give the client multiple options. This has the dual benefit of allowing you to set the terms, but also allow the client to feel like they're in control. Everybody wins. In this case, I offered a flat rate or an hourly fee.
Remember to factor in any extraneous costs outside of labor. That could include materials costs, or shipping fees. Once you determine how much the client will agree to pay, stipulate how and when you will be paid. Getting some money upfront is good, in case things go south.
Any agreement should outline the exact use for the work in question. This could include a license for usages for a specific time period/format/audience. Your price should increase for any usage of your work that could potentially generate profit for the client.
All deadlines should be clearly stated. If the client is asking for a quick turnaround, charge a higher price for that inconvenience to you. Here I have again presented the client with options.
[At this point in the conversation, he stopped talking to me. Honestly I'm surprised it went on for as long as it did.]
I'm sure my mother is reading this, horrified, so allow me to add this disclaimer: no, Mom, I'm not going to send this guy a jar of my spit.
I'll be teaching basic business skills, including client negotiation, as part of my Self-Promotion for Illustrators class next semester. Obviously those lessons will be more specifically tailored to making art, rather than selling your spit to internet randos.
If you're not a student where I teach and/or can't take my class, everything I know about negotiating I learned from @_katie_lane's blog. You should follow her. workmadeforhire.net/blog/
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. 🦃💦
As this is getting a fair amount of attention, I want to add: this guy is a creep because, as suggested by the 1st tweet, he'd been sending me repeated sexual messages (for months) despite requests to stop. A spit request is fine if asked respectfully. Let's not kink shame here.
Also I make comics and stuff, in case you wanna check that out: emigennis.com
Shoutout to the person who found me on Venmo and generously donated $10 to support my twitter ramblings.
In all seriousness though, if you read this and feel compelled to support me in any way, my friends and I are being sued and need help covering our legal fees. Any amount or signal boosting #DefendThe11 will help. Thanks. gofundme.com/SPX-Support-Th…
