[FaD] Difficulty question

Hello, I'm about to start my first FaD campaign and currently am the proud owner of the FaD Core book, the GM Kit, the FaD Beginner Box, Chronicles of the Gatekeeper and Nexus of Power.

I was planning on running the Beginner Box Adventure to get everybody together. After that they are allowed to make their own characters or keep the predesigned (somehow stronger) character if they want.

Next up was supposed to be the Introductory adventure in the Core book and the GM Kit "aftermath" to get everybody a lightsaber if the so wish. The second part of the Beginner Box was supposed to come after that.

So much for the beginning.

My question is: How much more do I need to throwthem into Chronicles of the Gatekeeper. I have some bad experiences with being underpowered and facing of a certain Pirate Queen, so I'd like to have some advice on this.

Thanks for everything.

P.S. Do I give out bonus EXP for character creation should someone keep a predesigned character?