[LKK]

Breaking into the mainstream market was one reason for the Western-style covers but it wasn't the only reason. Bookstore chains wanted a Western cover. Manga style novel covers simply don't sell as well as novels with current Western-style covers. Bottom line reality. Bookstores want to sell books. Books series that don't sell for bookstores are books series that bookstores won't continue to carry. This is another reason why Yen Press will continue to publish its novels with altered covers. They need to get their book series on the bookstore shelves.

I'm sure you already know this, but S&W isn't the only Japanese novel series with a different cover for US publication. Most of them have altered covers. S&W fans are getting a bonus in that the Western cover is a removable dust jacket with the original art on the book itself. That's a true rarity.