Future of erotica?

Delilah Devlin has recently self-published a BDSM novella entitled Pleasing Sir. Delilah is a well-known author with a huge backlist--from erotica publishers like Samhain and Ellora's Cave.

I wonder if one day she looked at her big fan base and decided to eliminate the middleman. Is she a forerunner of the future? Will other erotica authors use the "traditional" publishers as a stepping stone to independence? (Not that Ellora's Cave or Samhain are considered traditional...at least not yet.)

As of the writing of this post, Delilah's e-book is ranked number one in Kindle erotica. Good for her!