the better part of me

I didn't mean to imply that either type is more challenging, just that they're different. There was nothing easy about working all those canon details into AAO. ^_~

I've always been under the impression that published fanfiction was solicited work, that the copyright holders went out and requested books from certain writers. I could be wrong, though. And I'm sure it's different for different fandoms. But it can't be an easy field to break into, especially with everyone and their grandma writing fanfiction these days. I'd almost expect it to be more difficult to get published that way, even.

ETA: At random, I Googled the submission guidelines for Star Trek novels. They do accept submissions from first-time authors, but only through agents, and there are a ton of rules.

I think my take on the whole thing at this point is "fanfic in general may be easier to write, but it's harder to sell." Meaning, writing the type of fanfiction novel that could be published is more difficult than doing the same with original fiction. My overall point still being, though, that they're not the same.