Is the Canon SX40 right for me?

Exactly how do you want the quality of your work to improve?

An SX40 will give you more zoom than the SX130. It has a few other features too, but it probably wouldn't be much of an improvement in terms of image quality. They both have compact camera sensors, and standard aperture lenses.

A step-up Canon camera would be the S100 or its replacement the S110, or the Canon G15. These have the next size up in sensor, and have brighter lenses.