This free, short (62 pages) Kindle book is a helpful resource for new authors who have limited book promotion time and choose to use it on social media. The overview of KDP Select’s free days and Kindle countdowns is helpful for anyone who hasn’t been exposed to that piece of the Kindle puzzle yet.

I like the links to online resources and a list of Twitter handles to include in a giveaway tweet in hopes that those accounts will re-tweet your offer.

The sample 90-day/five-minutes-a-day book marketing plan and corresponding template undoubtedly help those authors who are continually searching for a plug-and-play solution to book promotion. Following this example, or, more importantly, personalizing it so it focuses on the right social media networks for your audience, will reduce your planning time and help you structure your time. All good.

On the other hand . . .

The book is well-written and offers enough information to be worth reading. I suspect that Asselin focused on social media rather than taking a broader approach because it’s easy to tweet, post, and share in five minutes or less.  Still, a few things surprised me in 5-Minute Marketing for Authors:

• The author recommends copying and pasting the same post with all social media networks — sharing the same text on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, for example — and that’s counter to best practices. It’s time efficient, but it’s not the best way to use social media.
• All content suggestions for social media activity focus on sales messages — “My book is free today!” or “Kindle countdown this week!” Effective social media use for book promotion involves way more than “buy my book” posts.
• There’s nothing about how to connect with fans in ways that will support future book sales.
• It doesn’t cover what you can to do build relationships or reader engagement.
• It doesn’t address the importance of selecting social media networks that reach your book’s target audience. You’re better off using all of your five minutes a day on two social networks that reach your audience than you are spreading that precious time over six networks that don’t.
• It lacks information about what you can do to get reader reviews on Amazon (or anywhere else).

Still, the book has value in that it acknowledges that authors don’t always have a lot of time for book marketing and helps them zero in on specific things they can do in just a few minutes a day.

My advice would be to mix into this some of what you know already about how to use social media effectively, how to build relationships with readers, and how to position yourself as a writer whose books are worth reading.

When you’ve got just five minutes to do something to promote your book, what do you do?