Is my onboarding sequence too much?

I recently created my first email onboarding sequence, following step-by-step the Novel Marketing episode on that (https://www.authormedia.com/how-to-take-advantage-of-email-drip-marketing-as-an-author/). I got the feedback from a much more experienced author and from my Timothy that it’s too much (five emails spaced over nine days, 100-200 words each). The author said it felt rude/intrusive, and my Timothy said it felt really overwhelming.

So, I’m thinking I should create a shorter/simpler onboarding sequence (maybe just the reader magnet plus one introductory email). But I’m still new enough to email marketing that I’m hesitant to deviate too much from that Novel Marketing template. Is there anything I should be sure to include in a shorter onboarding sequence, or anything that can be easily cut from what I have? (If it helps to know, I otherwise send out one monthly email, between 500 and 100 words.)