General responses to timeline concerns

Quick turnaround

I can definitely work with a quick turnaround time, though I do charge a rush fee.

Far-future start date

I’ll be turning down other work to block time on my calendar for your project. I charge a cancellation fee of $XXX/XX% of the cost of the project is cancelled within 3 weeks. If you’re not comfortable with this, you can of course reach out again closer to the project start date to check my availability.

No deadline

I know it might seem like a positive thing to have a loose schedule and flexibility on deadlines. Unfortunately, I can't budget my time or schedule other projects without any clear dates.