The Nook got him the hook.

Barnes & Noble said CEO William Lynch — who spent the past three years scrambling to create a Nook tablet device to compete with similar gadgets from Amazon and Apple — has resigned from the company.

The Big Apple-based bookseller named Michael Huseby as president of the company and CEO of its Nook Media unit. The company said it also promoted controller Allen Lindstrom to chief financial officer.

Lynch’s exit follows last month’s announcement that it was abandoning the Nook tablet amid fierce competition from devices like the Kindle and iPad, as well as a flurry of newcomers driven by Google’s Android operating system.

While the Nook’s color tablet devices will disappear, its content platform is expected to attract bids, perhaps from Microsoft, which already owns a stake in the Nook. B&N will continue to make Nook black-and-white e-readers.

Shares of Barnes & Noble slid 3.6 percent in after-hours trading.