Live Updates: Every Major Reveal from ApollyCon 2026 (Day 2 — Thursday)

Jump To The Update

Last updated: April 24th @ 9 AM 2026. All information sourced from on-the-ground attendees, official ApollyCon social channels, and author announcements. Bookmark this page — I’m updating it throughout the day. If my sources are twisted, you can shoot me a message.

📌 Bookmark this page. I’ll be updating it throughout ApollyCon 2026 as announcements come in. For the full event guide, read our ApollyCon 2026 everything you need to know post. My disability means I’m very selective about the events I go to, and this was not on my list, but I still neeeed all the goss.

If you’re still catching up on what ApollyCon actually is, the official ApollyCon FAQ has the basics on dates, location (the Gaylord National Resort in National Harbor, Maryland), and ticket tiers.

The Afternoon Tea: Logistics & Lines

It wouldn’t be ApollyCon without a little drama, of course. Here is what’s happening behind the scenes as we head into the evening:

• The Ticket Audit: There are reports of a manual audit happening at the registration desk. Apparently, some attendees found a loophole in the Eventbrite Ticket Edit form to upgrade their tiers. Security is being extra diligent with wristband checks this afternoon. Make sure you bring the info you need to prove your innocence.
• Pre-Order Panic: If you were eyeing Drethi A. or Nikki Castle merch, check out your emails. Their pre-order windows are reportedly closing earlier than expected (some within the next 24 hours). This is causing a lot of panic, hopefully things won’t crash and everyone can get what they need.
• Wi-Fi Issues: The Gaylord basement Wi-Fi is officially at capacity. If you’re trying to sync your digital tickets, do it before you take the escalators down!

The ApollyCon 2026 Survival Kit (Remote & On-Site)

• The Gaylord Maryland Ballroom Hike: If you’re staying at the resort, it’s a 10-minute walk from the rooms to the ballroom. Wear supportive shoes.
• The Power Factor: Wall outlets at the Gaylord are scarce. If you’re attending, bring a portable power bank. If you’re following remotely, keep your notifications on for JLA’s Facebook group—that’s where the line moves are announced first.
• Hydration is Strategy: National Harbor is breezy, but the ballrooms get hot. Bring a collapsible water bottle.
• Digital Prep: Download the ApollyCon App and screenshot your QR codes now. The resort Wi-Fi is notorious for dropping when 3,000 people try to check in at once.

What You Need to Know

• Event Status: Day 2 (Thursday) registration and programming go live. Get a full event overview in our ApollyCon 2026 everything you need to know guide.
• Primal Swag: Unboxings confirm a signed event edition and exclusive tote, plus the usual mix of Blood and Ash goodies. You can check the core series details on JLA’s own Blood and Ash series page if you’re new here.
• Coronation Event: Happening day 2; includes the War of Two Queens event edition — more on that book on JLA’s official page for The War of Two Queens.
• 2027 Announcement: Historically revealed Sunday; check back April 26 or watch the official @apollycon Instagram for the save-the-date. Add my new insta too while you’re at it!

Wednesday Night Mixer & The “Power Duo” Conversation

ApollyCon 2026 officially kicked off last night with the Primal/Ascended mixer, followed by a heavyweight conversation between J.R. Ward and Jennifer L. Armentrout.

• The Goss: The discussion was surprisingly candid about “author longevity.” And maybe that’s something I’ll cover at a later date, coz it’s been in the air. In my post on Wolfboy I discussed where I see this moving in future years. But for now just know that JLA and J.R. Ward talked deeply about the emotional weight of maintaining long-running series like Blood and Ash and Black Dagger Brotherhood.
• The Feel: The National Harbor ballroom was packed, and the bookish networking was in full swing. Early reports from attendees suggest the merch lines were already forming for the vendor pre-orders happening today, yikes.
  

Untitled Rebecca Yarros Book?

Yes you heard right. A secret book listing that’s been floating around the top of the Amazon charts. At first, ballroom telephone, and some thought it might be a contemporary, but it looks like our wishes might come true. Rebecca indicated this week, the untitled project hitting #1 is officially an Empyrean novella. But not the graphic novel coming out next year.

While some were hoping for a 600-page tome, the 176-page count suggests we’re getting something more bite-sized. Is it a prequel? A dragon diary? A cookbook? Xaden’s POV? Brennans POV? Whatever it is, it drops September 29, 2026.

ApollyCon Day 2

ApollyCon 2026 will soon be in full swing at the Gaylord National Resort in National Harbor, Maryland, and Thursday is the day the real event kicks into gear. Wednesday night’s Welcome to the Capital opening gave Primal ticket holders their first taste, but Day 2 is when the programming, the panels, the Coronation event, and — most importantly for a large chunk of BookTok — the swag bags actually happen. Full baseline info (dates, venue, and tickets) lives on the official ApollyCon site.

I’m collecting the biggest reveals, announcements, and moments as they happen. Here’s everything so far.

What’s in the ApollyCon 2026 Primal Swag Bag?

This is the question clogging every ApollyCon hashtag before the event even properly opens, and honestly, fair enough. The Primal swag bag is one of the more discussed perks of the top ticket tier. It includes a signed ApollyCon edition book and a special event tote, and the full contents are kept deliberately under wraps until Primal holders collect them at registration.

It’s here! Here are some of the best social posts that show the swag (go follow the book girlies)

What we know is confirmed in the bag:

• A signed ApollyCon exclusive edition book (the event edition of War of Two Queens has been confirmed as a Thursday Coronation event item).
• Special event tote bag
• Merch and author extras, lots of them, but some examples include like A Glamour of Smoke & Shadow by Heather Hildenbrand is a spicy romantic fantasy novella and a prequel to the “Cursed Fae Courts” series, A Crown of Ruin, a 140-page fantasy romance novella by Jennifer L. Armentrout, Lipstick & Camera Clicks by D.J. Murphy, and a few mini pics and posters as a keepsake.
• And the fan? It says I’m hot…I have thoughts

If you’re one of the people who discovered romantasy through From Blood and Ash and are now in your morally-grey era, a right of passage for us all, I’ve rounded up more books with that same feel here: Dark Romantasy Books With Morally Grey Heroes.

Jennifer L. Armentrout’s Big Announcement at the Coronation Event

The Coronation event is Thursday evening which is included with Primal tickets and available as a paid add-on for Ascended and Deity holders. It’s built around JLA’s From Blood and Ash / Blood and Ash world.

Apollycon’s “Welcome to the Capital” Coronation event just wrapped. Hundreds of JLA readers in a ballroom, and tell them there might be secrets. If you weren’t in the room (tickets for this were bundled into Primal and available as an add-on for other tiers, which is why half of bookstagram is currently crying in general admission), here’s what actually happened and what it means for the next year of JLA discourse.

---

The Secret Project (That Isn’t So Secret Anymore)

Jennifer L. Armentrout confirmed what everyone was quietly hoping for: there is a brand-new, top-secret project in the works, and she described it as darker. So, for the dark fantasy girlies, good news! For a writer whose catalog already includes gods, monsters, trauma, and enough morally questionable immortals to populate three separate underworlds, darker probably means:

• a genuine dark fantasy rather than romantasy-with-jokes
• a new world unconnected to the Primal/Blood and Ash universe
• or a corner of the existing mythos that leans into horror, ancient gods, and the parts of lore we’ve only seen through romance-tinted glasses so far.

We’re going to start seeing darker in the industry: this blog on Inamorata points to why this book got such negative feedback even though this is the direction the market is taking.

Right now, there’s no confirmed title, series name, or release date attached in official channels, so anything more specific is still reader theory, but there will be theories, probably on Reddit, and I will be following them.

---

Special Edition Fever: Blood and Ash Goes Fully Deluxe

We also got a look at the finalized Deluxe Special Editions for the Blood and Ash series. These are the high-end, convention-tied editions that sit alongside the existing Apollycon-exclusive luxe versions (like the special edition of A Fire in the Flesh and the event-exclusive luxe Visions of Flesh and Blood we already knew were in the pipeline). From what was shown:

• full-color interior character portraits for core series characters
• upgraded finishes and foiling to match that “Capital” opulence
• and design choices that finally give a more official visual shorthand for faces

If you’re the kind of reader who mentally argues with every piece of art that doesn’t match your headcanon, this will either be a deeply validating experience or the beginning of your personal villain origin story. I look forward to the discourse about it. Preorders and access for these kinds of editions are generally tightly tied to event attendance and partner vendors, which means you can expect the resale and FOMO cycle to hit hard over the next few weeks.

---

A Tonal Shift for the Primals

During the Q&A segment, JLA hinted that future installments in the Flesh and Fire/Primal corner of the universe will lean harder into “ancient lore” and Primal politics, with the implication that the world-building is about to get denser and more central to the story.

In practice, that usually means:

• more page time for old gods, origin myths, and magical rules
• more inter-Primal conflict and power plays
• slightly less room for the banter-first, low-context romance beats that defined the early Blood and Ash era. But probably not completely gone.

The success of this will rely on the type of reader, obviously. Hopefully this move doesn’t alienate any true fans of the series. Either way, this series is being positioned as long-run epic fantasy romance, not a quick five-book arc and done.

---

The Capital Aesthetic: Crowns, Cosplay, and Mildly Unsafe Heels

The event itself — “Welcome to the Capital” — is designed as the official Apollycon kick-off, and it’s very Hunger Games-esque. Which makes sense considering the climate.

On the ground, the theme looked more like:

• gold leaf crowns, gemstone headpieces, and a lot of metallic eye makeup
• full-scale Primal cosplay, from battle armor to court gowns
• readers in outfits that could absolutely double as wedding guest attire if you just removed one dagger.

Cosplay was explicitly welcomed in the event information, and of course, lots of brave, creative people took note. It set a very high bar for the rest of the weekend — especially with the Villains Ball still to come — and reinforced that Apollycon has quietly become one of the few romance/fantasy events that genuinely leans into immersive theming, with little pop-ups and aptly dressed characters all around.

---

What This Actually Means for Readers

If you’re watching from home and trying to decide what to care about, here we go:

And Apollycon itself continues to function as the place for announcements, and wow your socks off theming, that helps many authors soft launch the next year of books right out of the dreery winter season.

The secret project is the long-game. “Darker than anything I’ve done before” is going to drive speculation until we see a proper announcement, and it confirms JLA is still expanding sideways with her writing, which is always fun to see in established authors.

Readers still love collectables and they work well to drum up excitement and make us all feel like we’re part of the worlds we love so much.

The tonal shift toward ancient lore and politics in the Primal world suggests the next books will demand a bit more attention from readers who have been skimming the lore bits for kissing, which is a totally fair way to read.

What to watch for next:

• Any news on the Blood and Ash series continuation or companion novels
• Potential cover or title reveals for upcoming releases
• The confirmed event edition of War of Two Queens being handed out to Coronation attendees

ApollyCon 2027: Dates and Location Teasers

For reference, ApollyCon has been held at the Gaylord National for multiple consecutive years, and the venue has historically been reconfirmed rather than changed. Whether 2027 stays in National Harbor or moves is an open question that has just been answered.

Dates: August 19–21, 2027

Location: Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland

We’ll update this section the moment anything is confirmed.

Everything Else Happening Thursday at ApollyCon 2026

While the Coronation event is the Thursday headline, the rest of the day is genuinely packed. Below is the logistical breakdown of the Day 2 schedule:

Event	Time	Location
Registration & Swag Pick-up	7:00 AM – 9:00 PM	Maryland Ballroom
Industry & Genre Panels	8:00 AM – 10:55 AM	Chesapeake Rooms
Vendor Hall Access	11:00 AM – 2:30 PM	Event Hall
Sword Fighting Demos	3:00 PM – 4:30 PM	Lower Level
The Coronation Event	7:00 PM – 10:00 PM	Maryland Ballroom

• Books and Treats with Berkley Publishing — a publisher-hosted event with attending Berkley authors (invite basis)
• On-site tattoo artists — by appointment, Thursday and Friday only
• Sword fighting demonstrations — the programme lists this as a standalone experience, and it has been generating pre-event curiosity, particularly among the romantasy crowd who have had a lot of very specific feelings about broadswords since Fourth Wing came out (if that’s you, my Books Like Fourth Wing guide will keep you occupied in the registration queue).
• Signing floor prep — the signing floor opens properly on Saturday, but Thursday is when authors start setting up their tables and many are posting sneak peeks of their setups

How to Follow Along If You’re Not There

The most reliable real-time coverage is coming from the official ApollyCon accounts and this year’s ApollyCon Influencer cohort, who were selected earlier in 2026 and are posting across TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. The hashtags to track:

• #ApollyCon2026
• #ApollyCon2026SwagBag
• #CoronationEvent
• #ApollyCon

📌 Bookmark this page. We’ll be updating it throughout ApollyCon 2026 as announcements come in. For the full event guide, read our ApollyCon 2026: Everything You Need to Know post.

FAQ: ApollyCon 2026 Day 2