Q: Sally:

I’m an editor. A few months back, I crafted a great query letter introducing myself to a publishing company that has done nice work right in my sweet spot. It was an ideal match.

But I never heard from them.

So I go back and look at the query letter. Half of a sentence was cut off. An important sentence. One about the quality of the work I provide. Major gaffe.

Should I write them again? How do I recover from this? What on earth can I say? I still feel I’m perfect for them. Do I address the mistake? Pretend it never happened? Or just chalk it up and move on?

Q: Write them again. Pretend you didn’t goof. You still feel you are a good match? Write again.

Don’t just repeat your original query. Put a new spin on it. Say, “I wrote a while back. I’ve been thinking.” Add something. Change an idea. Elaborate. Extend.

Here’s why: I bet $92 they never saw the goof. It never even registered. To you, I’m sure the sentence stub sticks out like a zit on prom night. But they blew right by it. Especially in a high-speed email. People really hate to read stuff, even people in publishing companies who

I’m thinking they didn’t respond because, well, maybe they didn’t feel the match, or they weren’t looking that day, or they were reading on an iPhone. Could be a million things. A bad sentence? Nah.

Write them again. Be even more charming. Report back.

If they respond mentioning that they would never deign to deal with an editor, however ‘good’, who would be so slipshod as to leave a sentence dangling manque, as in your previously ignored email of 3 March, well, who wants to work for pecksniffs anyway?