OP, I hope you're still here, refreshing every few minutes until your thread dies, hoping to see a reply.
Well, I'm hoping you haven't already seen this heap of knowledge I'm about to drop on ya, so you'll always remember the kindness of an anonymous stranger throughout your career as the best goddamn GM your crew has ever fucking seen.
Step one is to have your first session be a bit longer than the norm, just so everyone can become familiar with the setting and rules, or perhaps receive help creating their characters. I'm a fan of doing real short solo sessions so your players can feel established into the world, but that's not always possible.