This is a post I never wanted to write. I have always tried to resolve issues privately, professionally, and with respect for everyone involved. I prefer to keep my space positive for my community and focused on creativity. However, after several years of recurring problems,  and most recently, a complete lack of response from my publisher, I feel it is important to explain my situation clearly, calmly, and factually.

“Sweet Crochet Friends” was published in 2019 by TUVA Publishing. As the designer and author, I put my heart, creativity, and years of work into this book. I am deeply grateful for the love it has received from crocheters around the world.

My book has been successful and was translated into several languages. According to my contract, royalties are due per language edition. However, after the translations were released, I was informed that royalties would only apply to languages published directly by TUVA, not to all language editions. At the time, I felt pressured to accept this interpretation after the fact in order to move forward.

My contract specifies that royalties should be reported and paid twice per year (every six months). In practice, since 2023, payments have been made only once per year. Each year, I have had to personally reach out to request royalty statements and payments, ask questions, and seek clarification.
I was often told that sales were low or that returns were high, resulting in minimal or no royalties due. However, when I consulted Amazon Author sales data for the Amazon US market alone (including returns), the numbers already exceeded the total global sales figures reported by the publisher. Since the book is sold worldwide, this discrepancy raised serious concerns for me. When I showed this data and insisted on explanations and corrections, the reported sales numbers then were revised, just simply editing the numbers in the reports. This situation has repeated year after year and has made it increasingly difficult to maintain trust in the reporting process.

One of the most distressing aspects of this collaboration concerns crochet kits made using my patterns. My contract covers book publishing only and contains no clause authorizing related products such as kits. In 2020, I discovered by chance that crochet kits based on my designs were being sold. I was not informed in advance. The dolls were produced by other people, my name was not credited as the designer, and the patterns contained errors. Customers contacted me directly for help and complaints, while I had no knowledge of these products and no control over their quality. This caused confusion in my community and damaged my artistic reputation. When I contacted TUVA, I was told that only 200 kits per design had been produced and that production would stop. Since the products were already on the market, I accepted this explanation at the time.
However, these kits continued to be sold year after year. They were later promoted through television advertisements in the UK in 2023, and as of today, in 2026, they are still being sold publicly. Throughout this entire period, I have received no credit and no compensation for these products, while customers continue to associate them with my work and contact me regarding issues.

I have repeatedly expressed my willingness to terminate this contract in a peaceful and professional way due to the ongoing issues and the emotional toll this situation has taken. These requests were refused.

This year, I contacted TUVA Publishing to request my royalty report and payment. I sent several emails and reminders and provided a clear deadline for a response. To date, I have received no reply. All my attempts to communicate have been met with silence, while the book and related kits continue to be sold. This absence of communication has left me with no way to resolve the matter privately.

I am sharing this information not to create conflict, but to be transparent with my community and to protect my work as an independent designer. Fighting every year for basic information, correct reporting, and respect has been emotionally exhausting. Transparency, communication, and mutual respect are essential in any author–publisher relationship, and unfortunately, these elements have been consistently missing in my experience. This publisher is based in Turkey, while I am based in France, and my books are sold worldwide. This makes resolving the situation even more complex. Any support, advice, or guidance from you is truly appreciated.
– If you are a crocheter and wish to support me, until this problem is resolved, please consider not purchasing Sweet Crochet Friends or related kits, as I receive no benefit or recognition from them. Instead, I invite you to support my work by purchasing my independently published patterns and other projects or books (the ones are not with TUVA). I no longer support or promote products published by this publisher. Please feel free to share this message within your crochet circles and communities, every bit of support truly means a lot to me.
– If you are an author or designer, I sincerely hope you never have to face the difficulties I have experienced. I hope my story encourages you to read contracts carefully and ask questions before signing. I am always open to sharing more details if it may help others.
– If you have experience, advice, or professional knowledge related to author or designer rights to face with this situation with TUVA, I would be grateful to hear from you.

My wish is simple: to close this chapter peacefully and move forward. I want to focus on new projects, creativity, and the joy that crochet brings, not ongoing conflict. Thank you to everyone who has supported my work over the years and continues to stand with me.

Your dear crochet friends,
Khuc Cay

UPDATE

Update about my book “Sweet Crochet Friends”

My dear friends,
I’ve been receiving many questions about my situation with Sweet Crochet Friends, so I would like to share an update here.
Recently, Tuva Publishing has made a payment for part of the royalties. However, this does not mean that everything is resolved. It is only a first step. There are still several important issues that need to be clarified and addressed in order to reach a fair solution. I am now working with a law firm who is handling this matter on my behalf. I will continue to update you when I can.

Below is the timeline to help you better understand the situation:

– 31 January 2026
After a long time requesting my royalty report without any response from Tuva, while my book (Sweet Crochet Friends – in different languages and also as crochet kits) was still being sold, I decided to share my situation publicly and ask for advice.

– 31 January to 10 February
After my post, I received many messages, comments, and support from crocheters, publishers, and professionals (thank you so much, I am truly grateful!).

During this time:
• Some designers shared their own experiences with Tuva in the comments of my post. One designer (B.) also shared her story on her own page. Shortly after her post, two people from Tuva (A. and K. – I prefer not to mention full names, but they are my direct contacts there and one of them signed my contract) contacted her and asked her to remove her post. In their message, they also mentioned my name, assuming that I had influenced her to speak publicly. During this same time, I still did not receive any response from Tuva regarding my own situation.

• On 8 February, Instagram notified me that my post had been removed following a copyright infringement report submitted by K. from Tuva, claiming that the photo belonged to them. However, the image used in my post was a photo of my own book and my crochet creations, taken by me in 2019. I had to submit an appeal. (Tuva did the same thing with designer B.; our posts were restored on 11 February.)

• I received confirmations from several publishers of Sweet Crochet Friends in other languages stating that they had paid royalties to Tuva for each print run. This was different from the information previously communicated to me, where Tuva indicated that these editions were sold under one-time payments, with only a smaller amount paid to me. I also became aware that crochet kits based on my designs had been produced and sold in different language without being reported or compensated.

• During this period, while A. and K. from Tuva was actively communicating with designer B. and taking action regarding my post, they continued not to respond to my direct messages and requests.

– 10 February
I received an email from a distributor working with Tuva regarding my situation, saying that they would contact Tuva on my behalf. I am very thankful for this support. About three hours later, I finally received a reply from a new contact at Tuva (M.), who introduced himself as the new Publishing Director. He explained that there had been internal changes within the company, which caused their silence.

My previous contacts at Tuva (A. and K.) were no longer in communication with me, with no apology or explanation for what had happened.

Following several exchanges, we were not able to reach a common understanding. From both sides, we did not agree on the interpretation of the situation in relation to the contract. Tuva proposed to resolve the matter by paying certain unpaid royalties, while my position was to request termination of the agreement. This is when I decided to seek legal assistance.

– 27 March
I formally requested payment for unpaid copies. Tuva provided a total number of copies sold, without breakdown by year or market – just a total number. Based on their figures, they initially indicated that around 5000 copies remained unpaid. After reviewing all past royalty statements and payments I had received over the years, and recalculating based on their own reported numbers, I determined that the total number of unpaid copies was in fact over 13000. I therefore requested payment based on this calculation.

– 8 April
After several reminders from my side, Tuva responded by stating that their reported figures also included crochet kits, which was never mentioned before, as book and kit reports had always been presented separately since the beginning of our discussion. They then deducted 3200 units from the English copies to reduce the amount of payment. Once again, Tuva changed their reports by simply editing the numbers. The number of kits in foreign language was also changed after my question, as it did not match the information I received from other publisher. Tuva adjusted these figures without explanation for the discrepancies. There remain significant inconsistencies between different reports and explanations, which have not been clearly clarified to date.

– 16 April 2026
I received a payment from Tuva. However, several important issues remain unresolved, including delayed and incomplete payments, inconsistencies and a lack of transparency in sales reporting, the use of my work beyond what I understood to have been agreed, the question of contract termination, and other related matters. To ensure that these issues are addressed appropriately and fairly, my lawyer will represent me and work with Tuva on the next steps.

I would like to sincerely thank everyone who has supported me: publishers, professionals, designers, and all of you who read, shared, or sent me messages, both publicly and privately.

This situation has been very difficult for me. I have felt exhausted, discouraged, and at times overwhelmed. If I had been alone, I might have given up, but your support gave me the strength to continue. I know this may be a long process, but I am moving forward step by step, and I am grateful not to be alone. I will keep you updated when I can.

If you would like to support my work, you can continue to support my patterns on my shops and my other books while this situation is ongoing.

Thank you so much !