Are you following @RozWarren? She is a kind-hearted, widely published writer who tries to help people. She might be willing to answer a question or two for you for free if you run into another situation like that one. I'll also try to answer if you leave a simple question on one of my publishing-related posts, like this one https://janiceharayda.medium.com/what-should-you-do-if-a-publication-wants-to-run-your-article-for-free-44abe38014f0