Board Thread:Questions and Answers/@comment-98.95.22.178-20140731190807/@comment-1173941-20140812053028

And I explained already; we don't know the bounds of their contract, when it comes to adapting SAO. Clearly the artist can choose to draw how the want and arrange each shot. But story-wise, the manga adaptations have stuck pretty close to the novels, EXCEPT for the Progressive novel, which just mixes around events.

There's also the "Girl's Ops" manga, which is a spin-off, and thus, NOT an adaptation, though Kawahara is still considered the "Writer".